Major Nuclear Power Plant Accidents

[Fledermaus]

December 12, 1952
A partial meltdown of a reactor's uranium core at the Chalk River plant near Ottawa, Canada, resulted after the accidental removal of four control rods. Although millions of gallons of radioactive water poured into the reactor, there were no injuries.

October 1957
Fire destroyed the core of a plutonium-producing reactor at Britain's Windscale nuclear complex - since renamed Sellafield - sending clouds of radioactivity into the atmosphere. An official report said the leaked radiation could have caused dozens of cancer deaths in the vicinity of Liverpool.

Winter 1957-'58
A serious accident occurred during the winter of 1957-58 near the town of Kyshtym in the Urals. A Russian scientist who first reported the disaster estimated that hundreds died from radiation sickness.

January 3, 1961
Three technicians died at a U.S. plant in Idaho Falls in an accident at an experimental reactor.

July 4, 1961
The captain and seven crew members died when radiation spread through the Soviet Union's first nuclear-powered submarine. A pipe in the control system of one of the two reactors had ruptured.

October 5, 1966
The core of an experimental reactor near Detroit, Mich., melted partially when a sodium cooling system failed.

January 21, 1969
A coolant malfunction from an experimental underground reactor at Lucens Vad, Switzerland, releases a large amount of radiation into a cave, which was then sealed.

December 7, 1975
At the Lubmin nuclear power complex on the Baltic coast in the former East Germany, a short-circuit caused by an electrician's mistake started a fire. Some news reports said there was almost a meltdown of the reactor core.

March 28, 1979
Near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, America's worst nuclear accident occurred. A partial meltdown of one of the reactors forced the evacuation of the residents after radioactive gas escaped into the atmosphere.

February 11, 1981
Eight workers are contaminated when more than 100,000 gallons of radioactive coolant fluid leaks into the contaminant building of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah 1 plant in Tennessee.

April 25, 1981
Officials said around 45 workers were exposed to radioactivity during repairs to a plant at Tsuruga, Japan.

April 26, 1986
The world's worst nuclear accident occurred after an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It released radiation over much of Europe. Thirty-one people died iin the immediate aftermath of the explosion. Hundreds of thousands of residents were moved from the area and a similar number are belived to have suffered from the effects of radiation exposure.

March 24, 1992
At the Sosnovy Bor station near St. Petersburg, Russia, radioactive iodine escaped into the atmosphere. A loss of pressure in a reactor channel was the source of the accident.

November 1992
In France's most serious nuclear accident, three workers were contaminated after entering a nuclear particle accelerator in Forbach without protective clothing. Executives were jailed in 1993 for failing to take proper safety measures.

November 1995
Japan's Monju prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor leaked two to three tons of sodium from the reactor's secondary cooling system.

March 1997
The state-run Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation reprocessing plant at Tokaimura, Japan, contaminated at least 35 workers with minor radiation after a fire and explosion occurred.

September 30, 1999
Another accident at the uranium processing plant at Tokaimura, Japan, plant exposed fifty-five workers to radiation. More than 300,000 people living near the plant were ordered to stay indoors. Workers had been mixing uranium with nitric acid to make nuclear fuel, but had used too much uranium and set off the accidental uncontrolled reaction.

http://www.atomicarchive.com/Reports/Japan/Accidents.shtml

[Nederland]

1. Interesting

I wonder why they don't list the amount of radiation released by each accident?

[XemaSab]

2. Excluding Chernobyl

that's between 160 and 300 people killed over 60 years.

Under 5 people a year.

How many people die for coal every year? How many people die for oil every year?

[joshcryer]

3. To be fair this doesn't include uranium mining accidents.

Which are a large part of coal's immediate deaths. But coal does kill a magnitude more with regards to its emissions.

[TheMadMonk]

4. How many people die in any blue collar industry in any given year?

As NNadir points out in another post, the catastrophic failure of hydro-electric facilities can easily surpass the outcome of the worst nuclear disaster to date, a disaster arguably as bad as any future nuclear incident is ever likely to get.

[joshcryer]

5. Nuclear bombs are a bigger threat than climate change.

Haven't you been paying attention?

[TheMadMonk]

8. Nuclear bombs are the biggest threat in the hands that already hold them.

All this talk about rogue states is just so much bullshit.

What small nation would use a nuclear first strike capability when to do so would mean suicide? What terrorist organisation would, when detonation would invite condemnation from all quarters?

What possession of a nuclear bomb (+ delivery system) means to most nations, is that it stands as a deterent to invasion by a nation like the United States and if the deterent effect fails, they get a shot at taking decent honour guard with them.

[Dead_Parrot]

6. Oh shush, you shill

Have areva delivered your new BMW yet? Mine's awesome.

[wtmusic]

11. Come over to GE, DeadParrot

Tier 1 shills get a Lamborghini. You'd have to post more, though.

[Nihil]

7. Not even that close ...

The OP list can be boiled down to the following four fatal incidents:

Winter 1957-'58
Unknown incident (i.e., unknown whether weapons development or experimental)
at an unknown time ("winter of 1957-58") near the town of Kyshtym in the Urals.
Single source estimate of "hundreds died from radiation sickness".

January 3, 1961
Three technicians died at a U.S. experimental reactor.

July 4, 1961
8 military died on the USSR's first nuclear-powered submarine.

April 26, 1986
The world's worst nuclear accident - Chernobyl

So, apart from Chernobyl, what fatalities do we see from civilian power stations?
None.
:shrug:


Even if you stick to your figures (i.e., err on the side of the panic-mongers),
that "Under 5 people a year" is so damn trivial as to be a complete non-event.

Let's do even worse: don't average it over the 60 years, take it as if every
accident happened in one annus horribilis and killed 300 people around the world.

BFD.

Car accidents, train accidents, plane accidents, boat accidents, building-site
accidents, mining accidents (of all types), ... gardening accidents, accidental
poisoning, ... this is just SO far down the line to be laughable and that's not
counting deliberate action intended to harm (murder, war) or disease (malaria,
influenza, tuberculosis).

FFS, an average of 58 people EACH YEAR get killed by lightning just in the US.


Being fair, no, we can't ignore Chernobyl but even then, perspective is necessary.


5.4 million killed each year by tobacco (443,000 in US alone).
1.8 million killed by diarrhea (2001).
1.1 million killed by malaria (2001).
669,000 killed by cars (developed countries only 2001).
520,000 people murdered (global) in 2000.
499,000 suicides (developed countries only 2001).
...
41,4000 die from the flu each year in the US alone (average).
...
1,226 died in that well regulated US construction industry (2006).
291 farmers & ranchers killed accidentally in the US alone (2006).
...


Q: Why do we end up spending so much time discussing this?
A: Because some people have absolutely NO sense of perspective.
:crazy:

[JulieKatz]

9. Cancer study brings relief in TMI area

It's about time! The National Academy of Sciences is going to conduct a cancer study around all US nuclear power facilities.

Read about it at:

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1272588919219080.xml&coll=1

With any luck, this study will prove what those of us who lived through the TMI disaster already know. The truth won't bring back my mother or my friends, but let's at least expose the whitewash artists who did the previous "studies" for the cold-hearted dollar mongers that they are.

[Statistical]

10. More likely it will confirm what last two cancer studies did.

That there is no increased deaths from cancer near nuclear reactors.

It was nuclear industry that requested the study. Mainly to debunk junk science claims that nuclear power isn't safe.

[madokie]

12. The nuclear power industry made a conscience decision years ago to mislead us at every turn

Rare is it that they will be honest with us. They think we wouldn't understand or something but I've got news for them denying that anyone has died from exposure to nuclear power plants and the radiation that has escaped does not make the truth to be. We're being lied to like we have been from day one. some times post a question and ask about the waste and what to do with it and you'll see what I'm talking about. In fact it's hard to have a discussion on anything wind, solar or alternates of any kind here in the E/E forum. It seems to always be a gotcha' type discussions and not a sharing of ideas.

[Kolesar]

13. The nuclear PR machine stinks

Despite having had BusCheney and the republicans running all of government, they made scant gains.
Your comments about this forum are polite and understated.