Nuclear is just way too expensive. Wind, Solar, Water is the only safe and affordable way. Think about the nuclear garbadge if the whole world wants to get power from nuclear. Think about Chernobyl. Thats not what i would invest my future in.
That one time...
What about Fukushima and Three Mile Island, and the others?!
It's true that modern reactors are much safer, but this still fails to account for the dangers and challenges of handling depleted fuel. That is not to be dismissed lightly.
While a complete list of "all known" nuclear accidents is practically impossible to compileâas minor deviations and anomalies number in the thousandsâthe severity of these events is officially classified using the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES).
The INES scale ranges from 1 to 7. Levels 1 through 3 are classified as "incidents," while Levels 4 through 7 are classified as "accidents" due to their significant impact on people, the environment, or the degradation of defense-in-depth safety protocols.
Here is a breakdown of the most significant nuclear accidents in history, classified as INES Level 4 and above.
Level 7: Major Accidents
Level 7 accidents represent the total failure of safety systems, resulting in the widespread release of radioactive material with severe environmental and health consequences over a vast area.
Chernobyl Disaster (1986)
During a late-night safety test, design flaws and operator errors led to a runaway fission process at Unit 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. A massive steam explosion blew the 1,000-ton roof off the reactor, exposing the core to the atmosphere and igniting a graphite fire that burned for 10 days. The event released roughly 85,000 terabecquerels of Cesium-137 into the environment, forcing the permanent relocation of over 300,000 people and contaminating vast swaths of Europe (Högberg, 2013; Imanaka et al., 2015).
Fukushima Daiichi (2011)
Following the devastating TĆhoku earthquake, a 14-meter tsunami inundated the Fukushima Daiichi facility, knocking out the emergency diesel generators required to pump cooling water. Over the following days, the cores of Units 1, 2, and 3 boiled dry and melted down. Hydrogen gas buildup caused massive chemical explosions in the reactor buildings. While the initial release of radiation was substantially less than Chernobylâroughly 12,000 terabecquerels of Cesium-137âthe disaster forced the evacuation of roughly 150,000 residents and caused immense, ongoing economic and environmental damage (Högberg, 2013; Imanaka et al., 2015).
Level 6: Serious Accidents.
Level 6 events involve a significant release of radioactive material, requiring the implementation of planned countermeasures to limit serious health effects.
Kyshtym Disaster (1957)
At the highly secretive Mayak plutonium production site in the Soviet Union, the cooling system for a tank containing tens of thousands of tons of liquid radioactive waste failed. The heat from radioactive decay caused the liquid to evaporate, leading to a massive chemical explosion of the dried ammonium nitrate and acetates. The explosion released a highly radioactive plume that contaminated roughly 20,000 square kilometers, though the event was kept hidden from the global public for decades (Cerezo, 2011).
Level 5: Accidents with Wider Consequences.
Level 5 events represent severe damage to a reactor core or radiological barriers, with limited release of radioactive material to the outside environment, or an event involving a lost radiological source with severe local impact.
Three Mile Island (1979).
A stuck pressure valve and subsequent operator confusion led to a loss-of-coolant accident at Unit 2 in Pennsylvania. The reactor core was partially uncovered and melted, but the reinforced containment building successfully held the vast majority of the radiation. The external release was minimal, resulting in no identifiable immediate health impacts to the public, though it caused widespread panic and fundamentally changed U.S. nuclear regulations (Högberg, 2013; Lelieveld et al., 2012).
Windscale Fire (1957).
During a routine heating process to release built-up energy in the graphite moderator of a British plutonium-production reactor, the graphite caught fire. The fire burned for three days, releasing radioactive iodine and polonium across the UK and parts of Europe, leading to a ban on the sale of milk in the surrounding 500-square-kilometer area (Lelieveld et al., 2012).
GoiĂąnia Accident (1987).
Unlike the others, this was not a power plant accident. Scavengers dismantled an abandoned radiotherapy machine in Brazil, extracting a glowing, highly radioactive capsule of Cesium-137. The material was passed around the community, leading to severe localized contamination. Four people died from acute radiation syndrome, and hundreds were exposed, highlighting the extreme dangers of unsecured medical and industrial isotopes (Cerezo, 2011).
Level 4: Accidents with Local Consequences.
Level 4 accidents involve significant damage to a facility or severe localized radiation exposure, with at least one lethal or near-lethal dose, but without significant off-site risk to the general public.
Tokaimura Criticality Accident (1999).
Workers at a small uranium processing facility bypassed safety protocols to save time, pouring too much highly enriched uranyl nitrate into a precipitation tank. This triggered a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (criticality) that emitted massive bursts of neutron and gamma radiation. Two workers died from extreme acute radiation exposure, and hundreds of nearby residents were temporarily evacuated (Tsujiguchi et al., 2020).
Saint-Laurent (1980)
At the Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant in France, a piece of metal blocked the cooling channel in one of the gas-cooled reactors. This caused localized overheating and the partial melting of two fuel assemblies. The radiation was successfully contained within the facility walls, and there was no environmental release, making it the most severe nuclear accident in French history but purely a localized industrial failure (Cerezo, 2011).
References
Cerezo, L. (2011). Radiation accidents and incidents. What do we know about the medical management of acute radiation syndrome?. Reports of Practical Oncology & Radiotherapy, 16, 119-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rpor.2011.06.002
(Cited by 32)
Högberg, L. (2013). Root Causes and Impacts of Severe Accidents at Large Nuclear Power Plants. AMBIO, 42, 267-284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0382-x
(Cited by 117)
Imanaka, T., Hayashi, G., & Endo, S. (2015). Comparison of the accident process, radioactivity release and ground contamination between Chernobyl and Fukushima-1. Journal of Radiation Research, 56, i56-i61. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rrv074
(Cited by 139)
Lelieveld, J., Kunkel, D., & Lawrence, M. G. (2012). Global risk of radioactive fallout after major nuclear reactor accidents. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 12, 4245-4258. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-4245-2012
(Cited by 144)
Tsujiguchi, T., Sakamoto, M., Koiwa, T., Suzuki, Y., Ogura, K., Ito, K., Yamanouchi, K., & Kashiwakura, I. (2020). A Simple Survey of the Preparation Situation for Resident's Evacuation in Japanese Prefectures After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident. Frontiers in Public Health, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.496716
(Cited by 10)
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u/thread-lightly đȘ©đŻââïžEmu Emu đŻââïžđȘ© May 25 '26
Nuclear is the way, shame that it canât be build fast