Statistics of radiation accidents in the world

At the very end of the 18th century, radioactive radiation was discovered, after which an active study of this phenomenon began. Already in 1901, radiation was first used for medical purposes. After 30 years, they began to think about the development of nuclear weapons. The first plutonium production plants started operating in 1944. The waste material was initially simply dumped into the environment like regular garbage. The surrounding area suffered significant damage. This is how the statistics of radiation accidents in the world were born. The era of radioactive contamination of the environment by humans has begun.

Peaceful "atom"

From the middle of the 20th century, the development of the engine began for its use in the transport industry. As this direction developed, they tried to develop an atomic-jet, an atomic-engine, an atomic-powered ship. The most successful was the idea to create nuclear powered ships. In the civilian sphere, these are nuclear icebreakers,.

In medicine, radiation began to serve the good almost immediately after its discovery. Today, radioactive radiation is effectively used in the field of neurology, oncology, cardiology, as well as complex diagnostics. Statistics of radiation accidents in the world in the field of the national economy:

* - the table contains conditional quantitative values. So, for example, only at the "Mayak" enterprise (Chelyabinsk region, Russia), about 32 incidents of varying severity are known over the entire period of operation, and only 15 of them were included in the summary statistics.

From the table, you can see that since the 90s, incidents began to occur among citizens. Cases of theft of nuclear materials and attempts to sell them have become more frequent (the culprits, in most cases, are soon from the radiation received). In particular, medical radioactive sources were stolen and disassembled and sold as scrap metal. In general, various materials “contaminated” with radiation have more than once got to the enterprises for the remelting of scrap metal.

Nuclear disasters

After the discovery of the chain reaction of decay in 1941, they thought about using the nuclear resource for generating electricity. In 1954, the world's first nuclear power plant was completed (Obninsk, USSR). Nowadays, there are about 200 power plants on the planet. However, it is difficult to ensure the trouble-free operation of such facilities.

In order to assess the degree of danger of the data of statistics of radiation accidents in the world in 1990, INES was developed - an international classification of nuclear events in the civil sphere. According to this scale, major radiation accidents in the world are accidents rated above 4 points. In the entire history of nuclear power, there are about 20 such cases.

INES 4. Events leading to the release into the environment of insignificant doses of radiation, equivalent to 10–100 TBq 131 I. In such accidents, isolated deaths from radiation are recorded. In the incident area, only food control is required. Examples of accidents:

1. Fleurus, Belgium (2006).
2. Tokaimura, Japan (1999).
3. Seversk, Russia (1993).
4. Saint Laurent, France (1980 and 1969).
5. Bohunice, Czechoslovakia (1977).

INES 5. Accidents resulting in a radiation release equivalent to 100–1000 TBq 131 I and causing several deaths. Local evacuation may be required in such areas. Examples:

1. Goiânia, Brazil (1987). An orphaned object was found, which turned out to be destroyed by a highly radioactive source of Cesium-137. Strong doses of radiation were received by 10 people, 4 of them died.
2. Chazhma Bay, USSR (1985).
3. Three Mile Island, USA (1979).
4. Idaho, USA (1961).
5. Santa Susana, USA (1959).
6. Windscale Pile, UK (1957).
7. Choke River, Canada (1952).

INES 6. Accidents in which the release of radioactive material into the environment is equivalent to 1000–10000 TBq 131 I. Evacuation of the population or shelter is required. One example is known. This is the very first radiation accident in the world of this scale - Kyshtym, USSR (1957).

Mayak is a nuclear fuel storage and processing facility in the Chelyabinsk Region. In 1957, an explosion occurred in a container containing 70–80 tons of nuclear waste. A radioactive cloud was formed, which carried hazardous substances across the territory of more than 23 thousand km 2 to the heads of 272 thousand people. For the first 10 days, about 200 people died from radiation.

INES 7. This score is assigned to the largest radiation accidents and disasters in the world. They are characterized by extensive radiation exposure to people and the environment, equivalent to a release of 10,000 TBq 131 I and more. They have colossal consequences for human health and the state of nature. There is an urgent need to implement planned and long-term countermeasures designed for such cases. This rating is assigned to two of the largest radiation accidents in the world:

1. Fukushima (2011). A series of tragic events hit Japan that year. Fukushima-1 NPP could not resist them either. and the subsequent three reactors were left without power supply, and therefore without a cooling system. The explosion was inevitable. They were contaminated with radiation, vast territories turned out to be, the ocean waters suffered the most in the accident. The exclusion zone has become a 30-kilometer territory around the nuclear power plant. In the first year, approximately 1,000 people died from radiation sickness.
2. Chernobyl (1986). The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred on April 26. In the fourth power unit, which contained about 190 tons of nuclear fuel, an explosion thundered. The accident that began due to erroneous actions of the personnel acquired inadequate proportions due to (as it later turned out) violations committed during the construction of the reactor.

As a result, about 50 thousand km 2 of agricultural land became unsuitable for cultivation. The city of Pripyat, whose population at that time was 50 thousand people, fell into the 30-kilometer exclusion zone. As well as other settlements. As the statistics of radiation accidents in the world show, about 4 thousand people died from radiation in the next twenty years.

Military "atom"

They began to think about the development of nuclear weapons since 1938. In 1945, for the first time in the world, the United States tested a nuclear bomb on its territory, and then dropped two more on the cities of Japan: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More than 210 thousand people were killed.

According to Wikipedia, the city of Hiroshima was completely rebuilt in 1960. During the period from 1945 to 2009, 62 nuclear weapons tests and 33 accidents of military equipment using nuclear power plants as an engine or with nuclear weapons on board are known.

Since the 90s, weapon testing has ceased. Since in 1996, most countries signed a nuclear test ban treaty.

Statistics of radiation accidents in the world: expert opinion

There are two opinions about the dangers of radiation. Some scientists carry out scrupulous calculations, and argue that the share of man-made radiation accidents in the world and nuclear weapons tests account for only 1% of the total radiation background. That the nuclear industry is an inexhaustible resource with the future.

According to others, the statistics of radiation accidents in the world show that, in economic terms, there are no advantages from nuclear energy. Therefore, experts call for abandoning the nuclear industry, leaving it in the past. Technologies are expensive at the design and construction stage, and the damage in the event of an accident outweighs all possible benefits. Not to mention the loss of life and the negative impact of radiation on the health of many generations to come.