Nuclear Power Plant Accidents
Since 1952 there have been 33 major Nuclear accidents. The following map explores the 10 worst accidents.
Chalk River Laboratories 1952
Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario Canada was the first serious nuclear accident, it occurred in 1952. A partial meltdown led to 10 Kilocuries of radioactive material released.
Windscale Pile 1951
Windscale Pile in the United Kingdom was the worst nuclear accident in the UK history. The reactor caught on fire. The fire burned for 3 days and the surrounding dairy farms were contaminated.
Kyshtym 1957
Kyshtym disaster occured in Russia. A tank storing tens of thousands of nuclear waste exploded. An estimated 10,000 residents were evacuted from the surrounding area.
Jaslovske Bohunice 1977
The Jaslovske Bohunice plant in Czechoslavakia experienced a fuel rod meltdown. This led to large amount of radiation relased, conatimnating the surrounding area.
Three Mile Island 1979
Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania suffered a partial meltdown of a reactor.
Saint Laurent des Eaux 1980
Saint Laurent des Eaux in France had a partial meltdown . Radition leaked into the surrounding area and works spent a year cleaning up the area.
Chernobyl 1986
The Chernobyl Nuclear plant in Ukraine is know as the worst nuclear accident in history. An explosion and fire released 5% of the reactor core into the environment causing the town of chernobyl to be unlivable.
Tomsk 1993
The Tomsk Nuclear processing facilty in Russia had an explosion due to a pressure build up. Radition leaked into the surrounding area exposing over a hundred thousand to high level of radition.
Fleurus, Belgium 1999
A nuclear accident at a commercial irradiation facility exposed many workers to high levels of radiation.
Fukushima 2011
Fukushaima is the second worst nuclear accident. An earthquake and tsunami led to power loss in the plant. This led to a partial meltdown and a fire. A large amount of radiation was released into the area and a hundred thousand people were evacuated from the area.
Chalk River Laboratories 1952
Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario Canada was the first serious nuclear accident, it occurred in 1952. A partial meltdown led to 10 Kilocuries of radioactive material released.
INES Level : 5
Deaths: Unknown
Windscale Pile 1951
Windscale Pile in the United Kingdom was the worst nuclear accident in the UK history. The reactor caught on fire. The fire burned for 3 days and the surrounding dairy farms were contaminated.
INES Level: 5
Deaths: Estimated 100 - 240 cancer deaths
Kyshtym 1957
Kyshtym disaster occured in Russia. A tank storing tens of thousands of nuclear waste exploded. An estimated 10,000 residents were evacuted from the surrounding area.
INES Level : 6
Deaths: estimated 200 deaths due to cancer
Jaslovske Bohunice 1977
The Jaslovske Bohunice plant in Czechoslavakia experienced a fuel rod meltdown. This led to large amount of radiation relased, conatimnating the surrounding area.
INES Level: 4
Deaths: unknown
Three Mile Island 1979
Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania suffered a partial meltdown of a reactor.
INES Level: 5
Deaths: No known deaths
Saint Laurent des Eaux 1980
Saint Laurent des Eaux in France had a partial meltdown . Radition leaked into the surrounding area and works spent a year cleaning up the area.
INES Level : 4
Deaths: unknown
Chernobyl 1986
The Chernobyl Nuclear plant in Ukraine is know as the worst nuclear accident in history. An explosion and fire released 5% of the reactor core into the environment causing the town of chernobyl to be unlivable.
INES Level: 7
Deaths: 30
Tomsk 1993
The Tomsk Nuclear processing facilty in Russia had an explosion due to a pressure build up. Radition leaked into the surrounding area exposing over a hundred thousand to high level of radition.
INES Level: 4
Deaths: Unknown
Fleurus, Belgium 1999
A nuclear accident at a commercial irradiation facility exposed many workers to high levels of radiation.
INES Level: 4
Deaths: no known deaths
Fukushima 2011
Fukushaima is the second worst nuclear accident. An earthquake and tsunami led to power loss in the plant. This led to a partial meltdown and a fire. A large amount of radiation was released into the area and a hundred thousand people were evacuated from the area.
INES Level: 5
Deaths: 573
The International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) was created to communicate the safety significance of nuclear events.
Chernobyl 1986
Images of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
Fukushima 2011
Images of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
