**9. Nuclear power plant accidents**

Brief descriptions of three power plant accidents in the United States the Soviet Union and Japan follow. The first nuclear power plant accident occurred at 4 am on March 28, 1979, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, the state's capital. A malfunction in the cooling system resulted in a portion of the core to melt in the Number 2 reactor. The approximately 2 million people who lived near the plant had an average dose of 0.14 Gy (Rogovin 1980). Although some radioactive gas was released from the plant on the 29th and 30th of March there was, "not enough to cause any radiation dose above background levels in the neighborhood of the accident "(http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/info/info/inf36.html). Fortunately, there were no reported injuries or health issues emanating from the Three Mile Island accident.

A more serious nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl power plant located 80 miles north of the city of Chernobyl in the Ukraine, one of the original Soviet Republics. A "routine" shut down and test that began on the 25th of April, 1986, led to this disaster. At one in the morning, 26 April, the reactor's power source dropped and when the backup safety system failed, the reactor, Reactor Four, exploded. Shortly after the initial explosion at Chernobyl, the Swedish government reported high levels of radiation at their Forsmark nuclear power plant at Stockholm. When additional European nuclear power plants also experienced higher than normal levels of radiation, they contacted the USSR for an explanation. Although initially denying the nuclear disaster, on the 28th of April the USSR acknowledged that one of their reactors had been compromised.

Scientists estimate that the radiation from the Chernobyl accident was 100x that of the two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is estimated that the total atomospheric release was 5200 PBq (petabecquerel, 1015 Bq). The immediate death toll was 31 individuals though many more may die from the long term effects of radiation. The Soviets battled blazes at the Chernobyl power plant for two weeks. Those battling the fires were heroes in this author's eyes because they knew they were exposing themselves to dangerous levels of radiation. Ultimately the Soviet authorities encased the Chernobyl reactor in concrete. A second more stable sarcophagus is currently being constructed over

There may have been additional unreported nuclear power plant accidents in the Soviet Union. Radioactive monitoring stations in Europe have picked up higher levels of radiation at various times which may have been the result of other Soviet nuclear power plant

The third and most recent nuclear power plant crisis occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan. The cause of this disaster was a severe earthquake and tsunami on the 11th of March, 2011. The earth quake, which registered approximately 9 on the Richter Scale, was the event that set this tragedy in motion. The earthquake and resulting tsunami damaged the power plant compromising the cooling systems to the reactors causing the fuel rods to overheat. This disaster was rated greater than that at Three Mile Island. As of June 2011, the Fukushima disaster has released approximately one tenth the total amount of radiation as was released at Chernobyl. Unfortunately, the damaged Japanese reactor continues to spew forth radiation so the ultimate amount of radiation released from the

The authors extend their thanks to the following individuals who assisted in the preparation of this chapter: Huizhong Xu, Associate professor of Physics, St. John's University, who reviewed the physics section, to Natacha Lamarre, undergraduate biology major, St. John's

Auberg B., Hungate, F. P. (eds.). 1967. *Radioecological Concentration Processes*. Pergamon

University, who typed the paper, prepared the tables and checked the references.

 lanthanum-140 (140La) 40 hrs. Beta2 Gamma2 Neodymium-147 (147Nd) and 11.3 days Beta1 Gamma1 daughter promethium-147 (147Pm) 2.6 yrs. Beta1 Gamma Yttrium-91 (91Y) 61 days Beta2 Gamma Plutonium-239 (239Pu) 2.4 x 104 yrs. Alpha3 Gamma1

 Iodine-131 (see Group B) Uranium (see Group A)

accidents.

Table 3. Radionuclides of Ecological Importance

the original; its scheduled completion date is 2013.

plant cannot be determined with certainty.

Press, Oxford. 1040 pp.

**10. Acknowledgements** 

**11. References** 


Group A. Naturally occurring isotopes which contribute to background radiation.

NUCLIDE HALF-LIFE RADIATIONS EMITTED

Uranium-235 (235U) 7 x 108 yrs. Alpha3 Gamma0 Radium-226 (226Ra) 1620 yrs. Alpha3 Gamma0 Potassium-40 (40K) 1.3 x 109 yrs. Beta2 Gamma2

0 Very low energy, less than 0.2 Mev; 1 relatively low energy, 0.2-1 Mev; 2 high energy, 1-3

Group B. Gamma emitting nuclides of elements which are essential constituents of organisms.

NUCLIDE HALF-LIFE RADIATIONS EMITTED

Cobalt-60 (60Co) 5.27 yrs. Beta1 Gamma2 Copper-64 (64Cu) 12.8 hrs. Beta1 Gamma2 Iodine-131 (131I) 8 days Beta1 Gamma Iron-59 (59Fe) 45 days Beta1 Gamma2 Manganese-54 (54Mn) 300 days Beta2 Gamma2 Potassium-42 (42K) 12.4 hrs. Beta3 Gamma2 Sosium-22 (22Na) 2.6 yrs. Beta1 Gamma2 Sodium-24 (24Na) 15.1 hrs. Beta2 Gamma2 Zinc-65 (65Zn) 250 days Beta1 Gamma2 Also barium-140 (140Ba), bromine-82 (82Br), molybdenum-99 (99Mo) and other trace

Group C. Nuclides important in fission products entering the environment through fallout

NUCLIDE HALF-LIFE RADIATIONS EMITTED

 Cesium-137 (137Cs) and 33 yrs. Beta2 Gamma daughter barium-137 (137Ba) 2.6 min. Beta Gamma1 Cesium-134 (134Cs) 2.3 yrs. Beta1 Gamma2

 Cerium-144 (144Ce) and 285 days Beta1 Gamma0 daughter praseodymium-144 (144Pr) 17 min. Beta2 Gamma2 Cerium-141 (141Ce) 33 days Beta1 Gamma1

 daughter rhodium-106 (106Rh) 30 sec. Beta3 Gamma2 Ruthenium-103 (103Ru) 40 days Beta1 Gamma1 Zirconium-95 (95Zr) and daughter 65 days Beta1 Gamma1 niobium-95 (95Nb) 35 days Beta0 Gamma1 Barium-140 (140Ba) and daughter 12.8 days Beta1 Gamma1

 Strontium-90 (90Sr) and 28 yrs. Beta1 daughter yttrium-90 (90Y) 2.5 days Beta2 Strontium-89 (89Sr) 53 days Beta2

Ruthenium-106 (106Ru) and 1 yr. Beta0

Carbon-14 (14C) 5568 yrs. Beta0

Mev; 3 very high energy, over 3 Mev.

Modified from Odum (1971).

elements.

or waste disposal.

The cesium group

The cerium group

The ruthenium group

The strontium group


Table 3. Radionuclides of Ecological Importance

Scientists estimate that the radiation from the Chernobyl accident was 100x that of the two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is estimated that the total atomospheric release was 5200 PBq (petabecquerel, 1015 Bq). The immediate death toll was 31 individuals though many more may die from the long term effects of radiation. The Soviets battled blazes at the Chernobyl power plant for two weeks. Those battling the fires were heroes in this author's eyes because they knew they were exposing themselves to dangerous levels of radiation. Ultimately the Soviet authorities encased the Chernobyl reactor in concrete. A second more stable sarcophagus is currently being constructed over the original; its scheduled completion date is 2013.

There may have been additional unreported nuclear power plant accidents in the Soviet Union. Radioactive monitoring stations in Europe have picked up higher levels of radiation at various times which may have been the result of other Soviet nuclear power plant accidents.

The third and most recent nuclear power plant crisis occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan. The cause of this disaster was a severe earthquake and tsunami on the 11th of March, 2011. The earth quake, which registered approximately 9 on the Richter Scale, was the event that set this tragedy in motion. The earthquake and resulting tsunami damaged the power plant compromising the cooling systems to the reactors causing the fuel rods to overheat. This disaster was rated greater than that at Three Mile Island. As of June 2011, the Fukushima disaster has released approximately one tenth the total amount of radiation as was released at Chernobyl. Unfortunately, the damaged Japanese reactor continues to spew forth radiation so the ultimate amount of radiation released from the plant cannot be determined with certainty.
