Radioactive contamination or radiological contamination is the contamination of the environment with radioactive materials, where these materials are not present. Many radioactive substances have very long half lives; this means that if they are present in the envioroment, they can be dangerous for a very long time. Many nuclear power plants produce such substances; usually they are processed to radioactive waste. There is little danger that comes from radioactive waste,if it is stored safely.
Year | Type | Incident | ARS deaths | ARS survivors | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1945 | criticality | Harry K. Daghlian | 1 | 0 | Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States |
1946 | criticality | Pajarito accident (Louis Slotin) | 1 | 2 | Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States |
1957 | alleged crime | Nikolay Khokhlov assassination attempt[4] | 0 | 1 | Frankfurt, West Germany |
1958 | criticality | Cecil Kelley criticality accident | 1 | 0 | Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States |
1961 | reactor | Soviet submarine K-19[5] | 8 | many | North Atlantic, near Southern Greenland |
1961 | criticality | SL-1 experimental reactor explosion | 2 | 0 | NRTS, near Idaho Falls, Idaho, United States |
1962 | orphan source | radiation accident in Mexico City | 4 | ? | Mexico City, Mexico |
1968 | reactor | Soviet submarine K-27[6] | 9 | 40 | near Gremikha Bay, Russia |
1985 | reactor | Soviet submarine K-431[7] | 10 | 49 | Chazhma Bay naval facility near Vladivostok, USSR |
1985 | radiotherapy | Therac-25 radiation overdose accidents | 3 | 3 | |
1984 | orphan source | radiation accident in Morocco[8] | 8 | 3 | Mohammedia, Morocco |
1986 | reactor | Chernobyl disaster | 28 | 206 - 209 | Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukrainian SSR |
1987 | orphan source | Goiânia accident[9] | 4 | ? | Goiânia, Brazil |
1990 | radiotherapy | radiotherapy accident in Zaragoza[10] | 11 | ? | Zaragoza, Spain |
1996 | radiotherapy | radiotherapy accident in Costa Rica[11] | 7 to 20 | 46 | San José, Costa Rica |
1999 | criticality | Tokaimura nuclear accident | 2 | ? | Tōkai, Ibaraki, Japan |
2000 | orphan source | Samut Prakan radiation accident[12] | 3 | 7 | Samut Prakan Province, Thailand |
2000 | radiotherapy | Instituto Oncologico Nacional accident[13][14] | 3 to 7 | ? | Panama City, Panama |
2006 | crime | Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko[4][15][16][17][18] | 1 | 0 | London, United Kingdom |
2010 | orphan source | Mayapuri radiological accident[12] | 1 | 7 | Mayapuri, India |
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)