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Deceased liquidators' portraits used for an anti-nuclear power protest in Geneva
The abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine, with the post-disaster Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the distance

Worldwide, many nuclear accidents and serious incidents have occurred before and since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Two thirds of these mishaps occurred in the US.[1] The French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has concluded that technical innovation cannot eliminate the risk of human errors in nuclear plant operation.

Nuclear safety

[edit]
Main article: Nuclear safety

The nuclear power industry has improved the safety and performance of reactors, and has proposed new safer (but generally untested) reactor designs but there is no guarantee that the reactors will be designed, built and operated correctly.[2] Mistakes do occur and the designers of reactors at Fukushima in Japan did not anticipate that a tsunami generated by an unexpected large earthquake would disable the backup systems that were supposed to stabilize the reactor after the earthquake.[3] According to UBS AG, the Fukushima I nuclear accidents have cast doubt on whether even an advanced economy like Japan can master nuclear safety.[4] Catastrophic scenarios involving terrorist attacks are also conceivable.[2] An interdisciplinary team from MIT has estimated that given the expected growth of nuclear power from 2005 to 2055, at least four serious nuclear accidents would be expected in that period.[1][5]

Overview

[edit]

Globally, there have been at least 99 (civilian and military) recorded nuclear power plant accidents from 1952 to 2009 (defined as incidents that either resulted in the loss of human life or more than US$50,000 of property damage, the amount the US federal government uses to define nuclear energy accidents that must be reported), totaling US$20.5 billion in property damages.[citation needed] Property damage costs include destruction of property, emergency response, environmental remediation, evacuation, lost product, fines, and court claims.[6] Because nuclear power plants are large and complex, accidents on site tend to be relatively expensive.[7]

The 1979 Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania was caused by a series of failures in secondary systems at the reactor, which allowed radioactive steam to escape and resulted in the partial core meltdown of one of two reactors at the site, making it the most significant accident in U.S. history.[8]

The world's worst nuclear accident has been the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union, one of two accidents that has been rated as a level 7 (the highest) event on the International Nuclear Event Scale.[9] Note that the Chernobyl disaster may have scored an 8 or 9, if the scale continued. The accident occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after an unsafe systems test led to a series of steam explosions that destroyed reactor number four. The plume spread in the near distance primarily over Belarus and after that covered extensive portions of Europe with traces of radioactivity, leaving reindeer in Northern Europe and sheep in portions of England unfit for human consumption. A 30 kilometres (19 mi) "Zone of alienation" has been formed around the reactor.[10]

At least 57 accidents and severe incidents have occurred since the Chernobyl disaster, and over 56 severe incidents have occurred in the USA. Relatively few accidents have involved fatalities, with roughly 74 casualties being attributed to accidents and half of these were those involved in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.[6]

Belgium

[edit]

This list is incomplete but there are no known fatalities in Belgium. See the Laka Foundation's list of recent nuclear and radiological incidents in Belgium from which this table is (partially derived).[11]

Nuclear power accidents in Belgium[11]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$) 		INES
rating
2002 Tihange, Belgium "Safety injection during hot shutdown at Tihange 2 unit".[12][13] 0 2
2005 Tihange, Belgium "Inadequate protection relays and related setpoints".[14][11] 0 2
2006 Fleurus, Belgium "Severe health effects for a worker at a commercial irradiation facility as a result of high doses of radiation" at Sterigenics.[15] 0 4
2008 Fleurus, Belgium Iodine-131 release in the environment.[16] 0 3
2011 Doel, Belgium "Inadequate setting of the auxiliary feedwater turbopump".[17] 0 2

Canada

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in Canada[18][19]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$) 		INES
rating
December 12, 1952 CRL, Ontario, Canada The NRX accident. A hydrogen explosion occurred in the reactor core due to a cascade of malfunctions and operator errors. The world's first major nuclear reactor accident.[20] 0 See NRX accident 5[21][22]
May 24, 1958 CRL, Ontario, Canada The NRU accident. A fuel rod caught fire and broke when removed, then dispersed fission products and alpha-emitting particles in the reactor building. 0 See NRU accident.
November 1978 WR-1 Reactor at Pinawa, Manitoba, Canada LOCA loss of coolant accident. 2,739 litres of coolant oil leaked, most of it into the Winnipeg River. The repair took several weeks for workers to complete.[23] 0 Unknown
August 1, 1983 Pickering nuclear Reactor 2, Pickering, Ontario, Canada LOCA loss of coolant accident. Pressure tube, that holds the fuel bundles, ruptured due to hydriding. All four reactors re-tubed with new materials (Zr-2.5%Nb) over ten years.[24] 0 1 billion Canadian dollars (1983-1993).[25]
March 1986 Bruce nuclear Reactor 2, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada LOCA Loss of coolant accident. Pressure tube rupture during pressurizing test (reactor shut down). Pressure tube holds the fuel bundles.[26] 0 Unknown
August 2, 1992 Pickering nuclear Reactor 1, Pickering, Ontario, Canada A Heavy water leak of 2300 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium into Lake Ontario, resulting in increased levels of tritium in Toronto drinking water .[27] 0 Unknown.
December 10, 1994 Pickering nuclear Reactor 2, Pickering, Ontario, Canada LOCA loss of coolant accident. A spill of 185 tonnes of heavy water. The Emergency Core Cooling System was used to prevent a meltdown.[28] 0 Unknown. 2[29]
June 11, 2002 Bruce nuclear Reactor 6, Bruce B station. Bruce County, Ontario, Canada Pressure tube and calandria tube damage during a channel maintenance procedure, required replacement of the two tubes.[26] 0 Unknown 0[29]
December 21, 2009 Darlington nuclear station. Clarington, Ontario, Canada Around 200,000 litres of water with trace amounts of radioactive isotope tritium coming from a storage tank mistakenly were released by workers into Lake Ontario, representing 0.1% of the monthly allowed amounts of tritium for this power plant.[30][31] 0 Unknown.
March 14, 2011 Pickering nuclear Plant A Pickering, Ontario, Canada A leak of 73 cubic metres (73,000 litres) of demineralized water into Lake Ontario from a failed pump seal. There was negligible risk to the public according to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.[32][33] 0 Unknown.

France

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in France[7][34]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)		 INES
rating
17 Oct 1969 Loir-et-Cher, France 50 kg of uranium dioxide melted inside of the A1 nuclear reactor of Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux, during a refueling operation 0 Unknown (likely far less than the 13 Mar 1980 accident) 4
25 Jul 1979 Saclay, France Radioactive fluids escaped into drains designed for ordinary wastes, seeping into the local watershed at the Saclay BL3 Reactor 0 5
13 Mar 1980 Loir-et-Cher, France A malfunctioning cooling system fused fuel elements together at the Saint Laurent A2 reactor, melting two fuel assemblies and forcing an extended shutdown 0 22 4
14 Apr 1984 Bugey, France Electrical cables failed at the command center of the Bugey Nuclear Power Plant and forced a complete shutdown of one reactor 0 2
21 May 1986 Normandy, France Pipe maintenance at the fuel reprocessing plant at La Hague released a radioactive solution to which three welders and two plant workers were exposed.[35] 0 5
27 Dec 1999 Blayais, France An unexpectedly strong storm flooded the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant, forcing an emergency shutdown after injection pumps and containment safety systems failed from water damage 0 55 2
21 Jan 2002 Manche, France Control systems and safety valves failed after improper installation of condensers, forcing a two-month shutdown 0 102
16 May 2004 Cattenom-2, Lorraine, France Sub-standard electrical cable trays at the Cattenom-2 nuclear reactor caused a fire in an electricity tunnel, damaging many safety system cables [36] 0 12 1
13 Jul 2008 Tricastin, France Thirty cubic meters[37] of wastewater contaminated with uranium were accidentally poured on the ground and runoff into a nearby river 0 7 1
9 Aug 2009 Gravelines, France Assembly system failed to properly eject spent fuel rods from the Gravelines Nuclear Power Plant, causing the fuel rods to jam and the defueling operation to be suspended 0 2 1
5 Apr 2012 Penly, France Fire on a primary pump of the second reactor, followed by a small radioactive leak into the containment 0 ? 1
2017 France, generic 20 reactors of the 1300 MW-class with seismic weaknesses on their emergency diesel generators 0 ? 2

Germany

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in Germany[7][34]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$ million)		 INES
1975 Greifswald, East Germany A near core meltdown at Greifswald Nuclear Power Plant: Three out of six cooling water pumps were switched off for a failed test. A fourth pump broke down by loss of electric power and control of the reactor was lost. 10 fuel elements were slightly damaged before recovery 0 ? 3
4 May 1986 Hamm-Uentrop, Germany Operator actions to dislodge damaged fuel elements at the Thorium high-temperature reactor released radioactivity to 4 km2 surrounding the facility 0 267 ?
17 Dec 1987 Hessen, Germany Stop valve failed for a moment at Biblis Nuclear Power Plant; contamination of local area in the reactor building 0 13

India

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in India[38][7][39]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)
4 May 1987 Kalpakkam, India Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalpakkam refuelling accident that ruptures the reactor core, resulting in a two-year shutdown 0 300
10 Sep 1989 Tarapur, Maharashtra, India Operators at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station find that the reactor had been leaking radioactive iodine at more than 700 times normal levels. Repairs to the reactor take more than a year 0 78
13 May 1992 Tarapur, Maharashtra, India A malfunctioning tube causes the Tarapur Atomic Power Station to release 12 curies of radioactivity 0 2
31 Mar 1993 Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India The Narora Atomic Power Station suffers a fire at two of its steam turbine blades, damaging the heavy water reactor and almost leading to a meltdown 0 220
2 Feb 1995 Kota, Rajasthan, India The Rajasthan Atomic Power Station leaks radioactive helium and heavy water into the Rana Pratap Sagar River, necessitating a two-year shutdown for repairs 0 280
22 Oct 2002 Kalpakkam, India Almost 100 kg radioactive sodium at the fast breeder reactor leaks into a purification cabin, ruining a number of valves and operating systems 0 30

Japan

[edit]
See also: Timeline of the Fukushima nuclear accidents and Nuclear power in Japan
Nuclear power accidents in Japan
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)		 INES
rating
8 Jan 1975 Mihama, Japan Radioactivity released from Mihama nuclear power plant.[40] 0
2 Nov 1978 Fukushima No I, Japan Japan's first criticality accident at No 3 reactor, this accident was hidden for 29 years and reported on 22 Mar 2007 0
2 Apr 1979 Tokaimura, Japan Two workers suffer radioactive contamination at the Tokaimura complex.[40] 0
24–28 Jan 1981 Tsuruga, Japan 29 workers were exposed to radiation.[41] 0
8 Mar 1981 Tsuruga, Japan 56 workers were exposed to about 45 tonnes of radioactive waste which spilled from storage tanks at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant. The waste was cleaned up with buckets and mops,[42][43] and was also discharged into Tsuruga Bay via the town sewer.[41] At the time, the plant had recorded 30 malfunctions since it was commissioned in 1970.[44] 0
31 Aug 1985 Fukushima, Japan Fire at Fukushima nuclear power plant during routine shutdown.[40] 0
23 Jun 1986 Tokaimura, Japan Twelve people suffer "slight" plutonium contamination while inspecting a storeroom.[40] 0
8 Feb 1991 Fukui, Japan Radioactivity was released from Mihama nuclear power plant after an emergency release valve failed.[40] Officials said the release "did not pose a threat to humans or the environment."[45] 0
22 Feb 1993 Fukushima, Japan High-pressure steam accident kills one worker and injures two others.[40] 1
December 1995 Tsuruga, Japan The fast breeder Monju Nuclear Power Plant sodium leak.[42] State-run operator Donen was found to have concealed videotape footage that showed extensive damage to the reactor.[46] 0
11 March 1997 Tokaimura, Japan The Tokaimura nuclear reprocessing plant fire and explosion. 37 workers were exposed to low doses of radiation. Donen later acknowledged it had initially suppressed information about the fire.[42][46] 0
18 Jun 1999 Shika, Japan Wrong handling of some control rods set off an uncontrolled nuclear reaction.[42] 0 2
30 Sept 1999 Tokaimura, Japan The criticality accident at the Tokai fuel fabrication facility.[42] Hundreds of people were exposed to radiation and two workers later died. This is not a nuclear power plant accident, however.[46] 2 4
2002 Onagawa, Japan Two workers were exposed to a small amount of radiation and suffered minor burns during a fire.[46] 0
9 Aug 2004 Mihama, Japan A main piping burst in the turbine building of the Mihama-3 station and killed persons present there; the subsequent investigation revealed a serious lack in systematic inspection in Japanese nuclear plants, which led to a massive inspection program.[47] 5 1
2006 Fukushima No1, Japan A small amount of radioactive steam was released at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and it escaped the compound.[46] 0
16 Jul 2007 Kashiwazaki, Japan A severe earthquake (measuring 6.8 on the Richter magnitude scale) hit the region where Tokyo Electric's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant is located and radioactive water spilled into the Sea of Japan; as of March 2009, all of the reactors remained shut down for damage verification and repairs. The plant with seven units is the largest single nuclear power station in the world, which now again is shut down due to the Fukushima accident.[47] 0 1
Dec 2009 Hamaoka, Japan Leakage accident of radioactive water. 34 workers were exposed to radiation 0
Mar 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi, Japan The world's second INES 7 accident. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and associated tsunami triggered cooling problems at Fukushima 1 & 2 stations with several reactors. Loss of coolant resulted in meltdowns in three units and hydrogen explosions caused their structural damage. Radioactive steam was released into the atmosphere, and highly radioactive water spilled into the ocean through utility trenches. Some immediate injuries resulted. 117 workers received committed effective doses above 100 mSv, and 6 workers received doses above the emergency dose limit of 250 mSv.[48] 2+;[49] further near 573 died from indirect causes[50] 1,200 - 2,100 7
6 June 2017 Ibaraki Prefecture The incident occurred at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's Oarai Research and Development Center, after a bag containing radioactive material tore open while a check on radioactive storage inside a "controlled" room was performed. It resulted in internal radiation exposure in five workers, with one of them inhaling plutonium. However, no radiation was detected in the external environment.[51][52] 0

Pakistan

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in Pakistan[53]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)
18 October 2011 Karachi, Pakistan The KANUPP Karachi nuclear power plant imposed a seven-hour emergency after heavy water leaked from a feeder pipe to the reactor. The leakage took place during a routine maintenance shut down, and the emergency was lifted seven hours later, after the affected area was isolated.[53] 0 N/A

Russia

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in the Russian Federation
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)		 INES
1957 Mayak reprocessing plant, Ural-region Kyshtym disaster: Explosion in a waste tank of the plant with a massive radioactive cloud, deteriorating deeply the health of the region's population The accident caused nearly 200 late cancer fatalities[54] ? 6
1975 Leningrad, Soviet union Reactor 1 of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant suffered core damage which released radioactivity. 0 ? 4
1992 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation An RBMK reactor of the Leningrad NPP released radioactivity which traveled over north-eastern Europe. Russian officials declared that they saw no immediate danger posed by the event.[55] 0 ? 2
1997 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation Worker Sergei Kharitonov revealed photographs of cracked walls and groundwater seepage at a nuclear power plant waste storage facility. He also revealed that the plant has been dumping 300 litres of contaminated water into the Gulf of Finland annually "for years".[55] 0 N/A
April 1998 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation An RBMK reactor was shut down following the discovery of a radiation leak.[55]
Autumn 2017 Ural-region, Russian Federation Roshydromet had issued report stated rise in beta activity of aerosoles and surfaces at all monitoring posts in South Ural from 25th Sep to 1 Oct 2017. In two aerosol samples Ru-106 activity increase was detected. At 26th and 27th Sep Ru-106 decay products was detected in Tatarstan republic. At 27th and 28th Sep high pollution levels of aerosoles and surfaces was detected in Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don. In two aerosol samples from Chelyabinsk Oblast 986- and 440-fold activity increase was measured comparing to preceding month[56] The Mayak nuclear plant is widely suspected as the source of the radiation.[57]
August 2019 Arkhangelsk region On August 9, 2019 an explosion triggered radiation levels to rise near Nyonoksa, which was later confirmed by Russia's nuclear energy agency as an accident while testing an isotope power source for a liquid-fuelled rocket engine. Five nuclear scientists had died and three suffered from burns. Russian authorities ordered the evacuation of the village nearing the blast site, suggesting grave dangers due to nuclear radiation.[58] 5

South Korea

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in South Korea[59]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)
4 October 1999 Wolsung, South Korea 22 workers employed by the Korea Electric Power Corp were exposed to radioactive liquid and gas at the Wolsung-3 reactor. Two workers were initially exposed when approximately 12 gallons of heavy water leaked during pipe maintenance. A further 20 workers were exposed during clean-up operations.[59]

Serbia

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in Serbia[60]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost INES
October 1958 Vinča, Serbia Six workers were exposed to high doses of radiation while taking out nuclear fuel rods out of the prototype nuclear reactor. 1 ? 3

Switzerland

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in Switzerland
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost INES
January 1969 Lucens, Switzerland Melting of a fuel element of the protoptype power reactor (6 Megawatts el.) VAK Lucens 0 ? 4

Sweden

[edit]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost INES
May 2011 Varberg, Sweden A left behind wet vacuum cleaner in reactor 2 of the Ringhals NPP caught fire during a test pressurization of the reactor. The reactor had to be shut down for six months for cleaning. [61] 0 SEK 1.8 billion (estimated)

Taiwan

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in Taiwan
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost INES
March 2001 Maanshan, South Taiwan Two-hour station blackout in one of the two units of Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant due to a grounding fault (Common cause failure) to the two available emergency diesel buses 0 ? 3

Ukraine

[edit]
Nuclear power accidents in Ukraine[7][34]
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)		 INES
26 Apr 1986 Pripyat, Ukraine, USSR Steam explosion and meltdown (see Chernobyl disaster) necessitating the evacuation of 300,000 people from the region and dispersing radioactive material across Europe (see Effects of the Chernobyl disaster) Around 50 directly (radiation sickness), eventually as many as 4000 (mainly cancers)[62] 6700 7
October 1999 Pripyat, Ukraine Metal structures broke, causing a gamma ray source to fall out of its container and expose two workers to "high" levels of radiation. The reactor was subsequently shut down until November.[55]

United Kingdom

[edit]
Nuclear accidents in the UK[7][34]
Date Location Description Victims Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)		 INES
rating
Spring, 1957 Windscale (now Sellafield), UK Radioactivity release from a military reactor contaminated about 800 farms and introduced strontium 90 to domestic milk supply. Milk was sold to the public without any warnings.[63]
8 Oct 1957 Sellafield, UK Fire ignited plutonium piles of a military reactor, contaminating surrounding dairy farms with radioactive releases of mainly iodine and in lesser amounts cesium and strontium.[63][64] The two accidents of 1957 caused around 240 cancers[65] 78 5
May 1967 Scotland, United Kingdom Melting of fuel element at Dumfries and Galloway. Graphite debris partially blocked a fuel channel causing a fuel element to melt and catch fire at the Chapelcross nuclear power station. Contamination was confined to the reactor core. The core was repaired and restarted in 1969, operating until the plant's shutdown in 2004.[66][67]
May 1977 Dounreay, Scotland, UK A hydrogen explosion at the plant caused by a reaction of potassium and sodium. This furthermore resulted in a concrete slab being destroyed, and the debris being scattered around the facility.[68]
Sep 1996 Dounreay, Scotland, UK A fuel reprocessing plant was shut down after elevated radiation levels were detected in waste-water discharged to the sea.[69]
Feb 1998 Sellafield, UK Two workers were exposed to elevated levels of radiation when the containment properties of a bag containing a contaminated filter were compromised. The workers were moved to duties elsewhere in the plant to limit their doses.[70]
9 May 2005 Sellafield, UK 82,966 litres of radioactive liquor made up of nitric acid containing 20 metric tonnes of dissolved uranium and 160 kilograms of plutonium leaked via a fractured pipe from primary to secondary containment within the THORP nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. 0 65 3[71]
July until November and further on 2019/2020 Sellafield, UK Loss of radioactive liquor into the ground from the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS) which contains irradiated magnesium cladding materials from the UK's Magnox reactor fleet. The levels of activity contained in the lost liquor surpassed regulatory limits. Terrain remediation works will be undertaken when the facility is decommissioned. [72] 0 ? 2

United States

[edit]
Main article: Nuclear reactor accidents in the United States
Nuclear power accidents in USA
Date Location Description Fatalities Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)		 INES
November 29, 1955 Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA Power excursion with partial core meltdown at National Reactor Testing Station's EBR-1 Experimental Breeder Reactor I 0 5
July 26, 1959 Simi Valley, California, USA Partial core meltdown at Santa Susana Field Laboratory’s Sodium Reactor Experiment 0 32
January 3, 1961 Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA Explosion at National Reactor Testing Station's SL-1 Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One 3 22 4
October 5, 1966 Monroe, Michigan, USA Sodium cooling system malfunctions at Enrico Fermi demonstration breeder reactor causing some fuel elements to melt 0 19 4
August 11, 1973 Palisades, Michigan, USA Steam generator leak causes manual shutdown of pressurized water reactor 0 10
March 22, 1975 Browns Ferry, Alabama, USA Fire burns for seven hours and damages more than 1600 control cables for one of the three nuclear reactors at Browns Ferry, disabling core cooling systems 0 240 3
November 5, 1975 Brownsville, Nebraska, USA Hydrogen gas explosion damages the Cooper Nuclear Station’s auxiliary building 0 13
June 10, 1977 Waterford, Connecticut, USA Hydrogen gas explosion damages three buildings and forces shutdown of Millstone-1 Boiling Water Reactor 0 15
February 4, 1979 Surry, Virginia, USA Surry Unit 2 shut down in response to failing tube bundles in steam generators 0 12
March 28, 1979 Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA Loss of coolant and partial core meltdown, see Three Mile Island accident and Three Mile Island accident health effects 0 2,400 5
October 17, 1981 Buchanan, New York, USA 100,000 gallons of Hudson River water leaked into the Indian Point Energy Center Unit 2 containment building from the fan cooling unit, undetected by a safety device designed to detect hot water. The flooding, covering the first 9 feet of the reactor vessel, was discovered when technicians entered the building. Two pumps which should have removed the water were found to be inoperative. NRC proposed a $210,000 fine for the incident.[73] 0
January 25, 1982 Rochester, New York, USA Steam generator-leak at the Ginna Nuclear Generating Station causes extensive injection of the high pressure emergency core cooling system 0 ?
March 20, 1982 Lycoming, New York, USA Recirculation system piping fails at Nine Mile Point Unit 1, forcing two year shutdown 0 45
March 25, 1982 Buchanan, New York, USA Damage to steam generator tubes and main generator resulting in a shut down Indian Point Energy Center Unit 3 for more than a year 0 56
June 18, 1982 Senaca, South Carolina, USA Feedwater heat extraction line fails at Oconee 2 Pressurised Water Reactor, damaging thermal cooling system 0 10
February 12, 1983 Forked River, New Jersey, USA Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant fails safety inspection, forced to shut down for repairs 0 32
February 26, 1983 Fort Pierce, Florida, USA Damaged thermal shield and core barrel support at St Lucie Unit 1, necessitating 13-month shutdown 0 54
September 15, 1984 Athens, Alabama, USA Safety violations, operator error, and design problems force six year outage at Browns Ferry Unit 2 0 110
March 9, 1985 Athens, Alabama, USA Instrumentation systems malfunction during start-up, which led to suspension of operations at all three Browns Ferry Units 0 1,830
April 11, 1986 Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA Recurring equipment problems force emergency shutdown of Boston Edison's Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant 0 1,001
1986 Surry, Virginia, USA Broken Feedwater pipe at Surry Nuclear Power Plant kills 4 4 ?
March 31, 1987 Delta, Pennsylvania, USA Peach Bottom units 2 and 3 shutdown due to cooling malfunctions and unexplained equipment problems 0 400
December 19, 1987 Lycoming, New York, USA Malfunctions force Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation to shut down Nine Mile Point Unit 1 0 150
September 10, 1988 Surry, Virginia, USA Refuelling cavity seal fails and destroys internal pipe system at Surry Unit 2, forcing 12-month outage 0 9
March 5, 1989 Tonopah, Arizona, USA Atmospheric dump valves fail at Palo Verde Unit 1, leading to main transformer fire and emergency shutdown 0 14
March 17, 1989 Lusby, Maryland, USA Inspections at Calvert Cliff Units 1 and 2 reveal cracks at pressurized heater sleeves, forcing extended shutdowns 0 120
November 17, 1991 Scriba, New York, USA Safety and fire problems force shut down of the FitzPatrick nuclear reactor for 13 months 0 5
April 21, 1992 Southport, North Carolina, USA NRC forces shut down of Brunswick Units 1 and 2 after emergency diesel generators fail 0 2
February 3, 1993 Bay City, Texas, USA Auxiliary feed-water pumps fail at South Texas Project Units 1 and 2, prompting rapid shutdown of both reactors 0 3
February 27, 1993 Buchanan, New York, USA New York Power Authority shuts down Indian Point Energy Center Unit 3 after AMSAC system fails 0 2
March 2, 1993 Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, USA Equipment failures and broken pipes cause shut down of Sequoyah Unit 1 0 3
December 25, 1993 Newport, Michigan, USA Shut down of Fermi Unit 2 after main turbine experienced major failure due to improper maintenance 0 67
14 January 1995 Wiscasset, Maine, USA Steam generator tubes unexpectedly crack at Maine Yankee nuclear reactor; shut down of the facility for a year 0 62
May 16, 1995 Salem, New Jersey, USA Ventilation systems fail at Salem Units 1 and 2 0 34
February 20, 1996 Connecticut, USA Leaking valve forces shutdown Millstone Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 and 2, multiple equipment failures found 0 254
September 2, 1996 Crystal River, Florida, USA Balance-of-plant equipment malfunction forces shutdown and extensive repairs at Crystal River Unit 3 0 384
September 5, 1996 Clinton, Illinois, USA Reactor recirculation pump fails, prompting shut down of Clinton boiling water reactor 0 38
September 20, 1996 Senaca, Illinois, USA Service water system fails and results in closure of LaSalle Units 1 and 2 for more than 2 years 0 71
September 9, 1997 Bridgman, Michigan, USA Ice condenser containment systems fail at Cook Units 1 and 2 0 11
May 25, 1999 Waterford, Connecticut, USA Steam leak in feed-water heater causes manual shutdown and damage to control board annunciator at the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant 0 7
September 29, 1999 Lower Alloways Creek, New Jersey, USA Major Freon leak at Hope Creek Nuclear Facility causes ventilation train chiller to trip, releasing toxic gas and damaging the cooling system 0 2
February 16, 2002 Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA Severe corrosion of control rod drives in the reactor head forces 24-month outage of Davis-Besse reactor 0 143
January 15, 2003 Bridgman, Michigan, USA A fault in the main transformer at the Donald C. Cook nuclear power plant causes a fire that damages the main generator and back-up turbines 0 10
June 16, 2005 Braidwood, Illinois, USA Exelon's Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station leaks tritium and contaminates local water supplies 0 41
August 4, 2005 Buchanan, New York, USA Entergy's Indian Point Energy Center Nuclear Plant leaks tritium and strontium into underground lakes from 1974 to 2005 30
March 6, 2006 Erwin, Tennessee, USA Nuclear fuel services plant spills 35 litres of highly enriched uranium, necessitating 7-month shutdown 0 98
November 21, 2009 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA Twelve workers were contaminated after radioactive dust was mobilized at the Three Mile Island plant during pipe maintenance works.[74] 0
January 7, 2010 Buchanan, New York, USA NRC inspectors reported that an estimated 600,000 gallons of mildly radioactive steam was intentionally vented after an automatic shutdown of Indian Point Energy Center Unit 2. The levels of tritium in the steam were below those allowable by NRC safety standards.[75] 0 0
February 1, 2010 Vernon, Vermont, USA Deteriorating underground pipes from the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant leak radioactive tritium into groundwater supplies 0 700
August 2011 Louisa county, Virginia, USA A 5.8-earthquake in the region caused the loss of offsite power at the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station. Later in the incident, the plant lost an emergency diesel generator, leading to the activation of the so-called SBO diesel generator - an emergency situation. 0 ? 2
March 13, 2013 Russellville, Arkansas, USA Temporary overhead crane collapsed at Arkansas Nuclear One's Unit 1[76] 1 ?
January 2014 St. Lucie, Florida, USA Flooding of the auxiliary building of the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, caused by lacking proper flood barriers[77] 0 ?
July 2016 Michigan, USA Massive steam leak in the turbine building of Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, unit 2 0 ?
December 2019 Nebraska, USA One of the two safety related component cooling systems of Cooper Nuclear Station was unable to operate, because its service water system, that takes water from the river, was plugged with silt.[78] 0 ?

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Sovacool, Benjamin K. (January 2011). "Second Thoughts About Nuclear Power" (PDF). National University of Singapore. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-01-16.
  2. ^ a b Jacobson, Mark Z. & Delucchi, Mark A. (2010). "Providing all Global Energy with Wind, Water, and Solar Power, Part I: Technologies, Energy Resources, Quantities and Areas of Infrastructure, and Materials" (PDF). Energy Policy. p. 6.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Gusterson, Hugh (16 March 2011). "The lessons of Fukushima". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013.
  4. ^ Paton, James (April 4, 2011). "Fukushima Crisis Worse for Atomic Power Than Chernobyl, UBS Says". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on April 10, 2011.
  5. ^ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2003). "The Future of Nuclear Power" (PDF). p. 48.
  6. ^ a b Benjamin K. Sovacool. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, pp. 379–380.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Benjamin K. Sovacool (2009). The Accidental Century – Prominent Energy Accidents in the Last 100 Years Archived 2012-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Stencel, Mark. "A Nuclear Nightmare in Pennsylvania", The Washington Post, March 27, 1999. Accessed July 5, 2010.
  9. ^ "International Nuclear Event Scale Enhances Public Communications" Archived 2008-10-24 at the Library of Congress Web Archives, Nuclear Energy Institute. Accessed July 5, 2010.
  10. ^ Mulvey, Steve. "Chernobyl diary – Part One", BBC News, April 4, 2006. Accessed July 5, 2010.
  11. ^ a b c "Laka foundation - Nuclear and radiological incidents: Belgium". Laka Foundation. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  12. ^ "Laka foundation: INES 2 - Safety injection during hot shutdown at Tihange 2 unit – Location: TIHANGE-2, Event date: Fri, 22-11-2002". Stichting Laka. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  13. ^ "Serious incident vindicates Belgian nuclear phaseout | Wise International". wiseinternational.org. Incident at Tihange. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
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