List of radiation accidents and other events causing radiation casualties

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 14 April 2006

This is a listing (incomplete) of radiation accidents and other (i.e. intentional) events that resulted in acute radiation exposures to humans sufficient to cause casualties. For sources and for details on specific events see individual pages at Database of Radiological Incidents and Related Events.

Notes:

highest dose: highest dose to any individual; in cases of more than one casualty, most doses were significantly lower. "L" indicates casualties involving localized exposures. "N" indicates the individual(s) receiving the highest dose died from effects other than ionizing radiation.
deaths: figures are for ionizing radiation-induced deaths only; parenthetical figures include those from other effects (e.g. thermal and mechanical results of explosions).

date	location	type of accident/event	highest dose (rem)	deaths	injuries
~1896	Chicago, Illinois, USA	radiography overexposure	L	0	1
~1905	Washington, District of Columbia, USA	radiography overexposure	L	0	1
6 Aug 1945	Hiroshima, Japan	combat use of nuclear weapon	(~80,000--N)	45,000 (130,000)	80,000?
9 Aug 1945	Nagasaki, Japan	combat use of nuclear weapon	(~200,000--N)	20,000 (65,000)	50,000?
21 Aug 1945	Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA	criticality accident with plutonium assembly	510	1	1
21 May 1946	Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA	criticality accident with plutonium assembly	2,100	1	1
2 Jun 1952	Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, USA	criticality accident with uranium	136	0	2
15 Mar 1953	Mayak Enterprise, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with plutonium solution	1,000	0	2
1 Mar 1954	Bikini Atoll, Pacific Ocean	fallout from atmospheric nuclear test	300	1	93+
21 Apr 1957	Mayak Enterprise, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with uranium solution	3,000	1	5
2 Jan 1958	Mayak Enterprise, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with uranium solution	6,000	3	1
16 Jun 1958	Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA	criticality accident with uranium solution	460	0	5
15 Oct 1958	Vinca, Yugoslavia	criticality accident at research reactor	430	1	5
30 Dec 1958	Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA	criticality accident with plutonium solution	12,000	1	0
13 Oct 1960	K-8 submarine, Barents Sea	reactor leak	200	0	3
1960	USSR	intentional overexposure	1500	1	0
1960	USSR	ingestion of radioactive material	L	1	0
3 Jan 1961	Idaho RTA, Idaho, USA	criticality accident with uranium research reactor	(~350--N)	0 (3)	0
4 Jul 1961	K-19 submarine, North Atlantic	reactor accident	6,000	8	31
14 Jul 1961	Siberian Chemical Combine, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with uranium	200	0	1
1961	Switzerland	tritiated paint	300	1	2
1961	Plymouth, United Kingdom	radiography accident	L	0	11?
7 Apr 1962	Hanford, Washington, USA	criticality accident with plutonium solution	110	0	2
1962	Mexico City, Mexico	lost radiography source	5,200	4	1
11 Jan 1963	Sanlian, PRC	lost source	8,000	2	4
11 Mar 1963	Sarov, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with plutonium assembly	550	0	2
24 Jul 1964	Wood River, Rhode Island, USA	criticality accident with uranium solution at uranium recovery plant	10,000	1	1
1964	FR Germany	tritiated paint	1,000	1	3
30 Dec 1965	Mol, Belgium	criticality accident with uranium in water	500	0	1
1965	Illinois, USA	irradiator accident	L	0	1
1967	Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA	irradiator accident	600	0	3
5 Apr 1968	Chelyabinsk-70, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with uranium in assembly	3,000	2	0
3 May- Jun 1968	La Plata, Argentina	lost source	L	0	1
10 Dec 1968	Mayak Enterprise, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with plutonium solution	2,450	1	1
1968	Chicago, Illinois, USA	radiation accident	~450	1	0
1970	Australia	radiation accident	L	0	2
4 Feb 1971	USA	irradiator accident	~260	0	1
15 Feb 1971	Kurtchatov, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with uranium	330	0	2
26 May 1971	Kurtchatov, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with uranium in water	6,000	2	2
1971	Chiba, Japan	lost source	130	0	3
1972	Bulgaria	self-inflicted radiation exposure	L	1	0
Jun 1974	Parsippany, New Jersey, USA	irradiator accident	400	0	1
1974-1976	USA	radiotherapy accident	L	0	88
1975	Tucuman, Argentina	radiotherapy accident	L	0	2
1975	Brescia, Lombardia, Italy	food irradiator accident	1,200	1	0
1976?	USA	fluoroscopy accidents	L	0	2
1977	Atucha, Argentina	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
1977	La Plata, Argentina	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
1977	Rockaway, New Jersey, USA	irradiator accident	200	0	1
5 May 1978	Setif, Algeria	lost radiography source	140	1	6
13 Dec 1978	Siberian Chemical Combine, Russia, USSR	criticality accident with plutonium assembly	250	0	1
1978	Buenos Aries, Argentina	accidental exposure to industrial source	L	0	1
5 Jun 1979	Los Angeles, California, USA	lost source	L	0	5
1979	Parana, Argentina	radiography accident	94	0	1
1979	Montpelier, France	radiation accident	L	0	1
1970s?	France	radiological assault	L	0	1
1980	Shanghai, PRC	irradiator accident	500	0	1
1980	Texas, USA	radiotherapy accident	L?	7	?
2 Apr 1981	Saintes, France	irradiator accident	L	0	3
29 Jul 1981	Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA	intentional self-exposure to industrial radiography source	?	1	0
1981	Buenos Aires, Argentina	radiation accident	L	0	2
2 Sep 1982	Kjeller, Norway	instrument sterilizer	2,200	1	0
1982	La Plata, Argentina	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
23 Sep 1983	Constituyentes, Argentina	criticality accident with uranium in water	3,700	1	0
6 Dec 1983- Feb 1984	Ciudad Juarez, Mexico	dispersal of lost radiography source	450	1	4
Mar 1984	Casablanca, Morocco	lost radiography source	?	8	3
1984	Mendoza, Argentina	radiography accident	L	0	1
3 Jun 1985	Marietta, Georgia, USA	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
26 Jul 1985	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
10 Aug 1985	K-314 submarine, Vladivostok, Russia, USSR	reactor accident during refueling	?	10	49
1985	PRC	accelerator accident	?	0	2
1985	PRC	radiotherapy accident	L	1	1
1985	PRC	radiation accident	L?	0	3
1985	Odessa, Texas, USA	irradiator accident	L	0	1
Sep 1985- 6 Jan 1986	Yakima, Washington, USA	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
21 Mar- 11 Apr 1986	Tyler, Texas, USA	radiotherapy accident	L	2	0
26 Apr- 6 May 1986	Chernobyl, Ukraine, USSR	steam explosion and fire in graphite-moderated power reactor	1,600	28 (31)	238+
1986	Kaifeng City, PRC	radiation accident	350	0	2
1986	United Kingdom	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
17 Jan 1987	Yakima, Washington, USA	radiotherapy accident	L	1	0
Jul- Sep 1987	Koko, Nigeria	radiological exposure to low-level waste	?	0	26
12-29 Sep 1987	Goiania, Goias, Brazil	accidental dispersal of lost radiography source	700	5	20
1987	Zhengzhou City, PRC	irradiator accident	135	0	1
1988	Zhao Xian, PRC	irradiator accident	520	0	1
1988	Exeter, United Kingdom	radiotherapy accident	L	0	?
5 Feb 1989	San Salvador, El Salvador	irradiator accident	800	1	2
1989	Beijing, PRC	radiation accident	89	0	2
1989	PRC	radiography accident	L	0	1
29 Mar 1990	USA	fluoroscopy accident	L	0	1
21 Jun 1990	Soreq, Israel	accident at commerical irradiation facility	1,500	1	0
Jun 1990	Shanghai, PRC	irradiator accident	1,200	2	5
10-20 Dec 1990	Zarragosa, Spain	radiotherapy accident	L	18	9
1990	Sasolburg, South Africa	orphaned source	L	0	4
Aug 1991	Forbach, France	irradiator accident	L	0	1
26 Oct 1991	Nesvizh, Belarus	irradiator accident	1,100	1	0
11 Dec 1991	Maryland, USA	irradiator accident	L	0	1
1977?-1991	United Kingdom	radiography accident	L	1	0
16-21 Nov 1992	City of Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA	radiotherapy accident	L	1	0
19 Nov 1992	Jilin, Xinzhou, PRC	lost industrial source	800	3	5
17 Nov 1992	Hanoi, Vietnam	irradiation accident	L	0	1
Nov 1992	PRC	irradiator accident	?	0	4
1992	San Antonio, Texas, USA	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
1993	Russia	homocide using radioactive source	?	1	0
28 Apr 1994	Tokyo, Japan	irradiator accident	L	0	1
21 Oct- 18 Nov 1994	Tammiku, Estonia	lost source	400	1	4
1994	Texas City, Texas, USA	irradiator accident	L	0	1
1995	France	radiography accident	L	0	1
1995	France	orphaned source	L	0	1
1995	Tyler, Texas, USA	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
Jun 1996- 9 Oct 1997	Lilo Training Center, Tbilisi, Georgia	lost sources	590	0	11
24 Jul 1996	Gilan, Iran	lost industrial radiography source	450	0	1
22 Aug- 27 Sep 1996	San Jose, Costa Rica	radiotherapy accident	L	7	81
17 Jun 1997	Arzamas-16, Russia	criticality accident with uranium assembly	4,850	1	0
1997	Georgia	lost source	?	1	?
1998	Houston, Texas, USA	irradiator accident	L	0	1
10 Dec 1998- 8 Jan 1999	Istanbul, Turkey	lost radiograpy sources	310	0	10
20 Feb 1999	Yanango, Peru	lost source	150	0	1
13 Sep 1999	Grozny, Russia	attempted theft of sources	high	3	3
30 Sep- 1 Oct 1999	Toki-mura, Japan	criticality accident with uranium solution	1,800	2	1
1999	Houston, Texas, USA	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
1999	Kingisepp, Russia	orphaned source	?	3
24 Jan- 20 Feb 2000	Samut Prakarn, Thailand	lost radiography source	200	3	7
5 Jun- 3 Jul 2000	Mit Halfa, Egypt	lost radiography source	?	2	5
Aug 2000- 24 Mar 2001	Panama City, Panama	radiotherapy accident	L	17	11
27 Feb 2001	Bialystok Oncology Center, Poland	radiotherapy accident	L	0	5
~2001	Samara, Russia	lost radiography source	275	0	3
summer 2001	Kandalaksha, Russia	orphaned source	?	0	4
early Dec 2001- Feb 2002	Liya, Georgia	lost radioisotope source	?	0	3
2003- 13 Nov 2003	Kola Harbor, Russia	orphaned sources	?	?	1+?
5 Jan- 1 Feb 2006	Glasgow, Scotland, UK	radiotherapy accident	L	0	1
11 Mar 2006	Fleurus, Belgium	irradiator accident	420	0	1

© 2004-2005, 2006 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 14 April 2006.
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