Subject: Calendar of Nuclear Accidents and Events
(Updated March 26th 2010)

Calendar of Military Nuclear Accidents

Below is a calendar that shows the threat that humanity faces from the atom bomb and the nuclear fuel cycle. This calendar gives some examples of the everyday nuclear incidents that have occurred all over the world. It demonstrates how technological failures coupled with human error risk public health and the environment on an almost daily basis.

January

1-1992: Four tons of heavy water spilt at Rajasthan nuclear power plant (India)
2-1993: Leak at Kozloduy nuclear power plant, release of radioactive steam (Bulgaria)
3-1961: Explosion in reactor Idaho Falls (USA); three people killed
4-1965: 6.5 kg plutonium sludge released from Savannah River reprocessing plant (USA)
5-1976: Two workers killed by radioactive carbon dioxide at Bohunice nuclear power plant (Slovakia)
6-1981: Accident at La Hague reprocessing plant (France)
6-2010: Energy Vermont announces Trittium leak at VY
7-1974: Explosion at Leningrad nuclear power plant (Russia)
8-1975: Release of radioactivity from Mihama nuclear power plant (Japan)
9-1993: Radioactive release from leaking fuel rods at Perry nuclear power plant (USA)
10-1987: Nuclear transport accident in the UK
11-1985: In Heilbronn (Germany), a Pershing-II nuclear missile catches fire, three people killed
12-1960: Technicians trying to restart a reactor at Savannah River reprocessing plant almost send it out of control (USA)
13-1964: A B-52 plane crashes with nuclear bombs on board in Maryland (USA)
14-1969: USS Enterprise, nuclear aircraft-carrier, suffers fires and explosions, killing 28 crew members
15-
16-1990: Loss of offsite power with multiple equipment failures at Dresden nuclear power plant (USA)
17-1966: A B-52 plane crashes in Spain causing plutonium contamination
18-1989: Eight workers are contaminated at Savannah River reprocessing plant (USA)
19-1992: Radioactive leak, reactor shut-down at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
20-1993: Technical failure at Paluel causes subcooling accident (France)
21-1969: Technical failure at Swiss experimental nuclear reactor causes release of radioactive water
22-1992: Technical failure in shut-down system at Balakovo nuclear power plant (Russia)
23- 1978: Radioactive helium released from Colorado reactor (USA)
24-1978: Soviet nuclear-powered satellite Cosmos-954 crashes in Canada
25-1982: Steam generator ruptures at R.E. Ginna nuclear power plant (USA)
26-1988: Dangerous temperature rise in a nuclear reactor on board a British submarine
27-1992: Leak causes a shut-down at Darlington nuclear power plant (Canada)
28-1990: Pump failure during a shut-down at Gravelines nuclear power plant (France)
29-1961: A B-52 plane carrying nuclear bombs crashes, the bombs do not explode but three of the eight crew members are killed (USA)
30-
31 -1996: Leakage of radiation due to human error and technical failure at Dimitrovgrad nuclear research centre (Russia)

February

1-1982: Release of 100 cubic metres of radioactive water from Salem nuclear power plant (USA)
2-1993: Breakdown of cooling system for two hours at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
2-2002: Davis Besse incomplete cleaning and removal of boric acid from system leads to extreme corrosion leaving only a thin layer standing between the 2400 psi pressure of the primary cooling system and the 14 psi atmospheric pressure containment. Near Miss!
3-1992: Failure of cooling pumps at Kozloduy nuclear power plant (Bulgaria)
4-
5-1986: "Amber alert" (indicating an emergency in one building and a threat to the rest of the plant)" at Sellafield reprocessing plant, UK
6-1974: Explosion and radiation leak at Leningrad nuclear power plant, three people killed (Russia)
6-2005: Entergy reports leak at VY plant in Vermont
7-
8-1991: Release of radioactivity from Fukui nuclear power plant (Japan)
9-1991: Rupture of steam generator pipe causes release of radioactivity at Mihama nuclear power plant (Japan)
10-1992: Technical failure in pump system at Zaporozhe nuclear power plant (Ukraine)
11-1986: Release of 13 tonnes of radioactive carbon dioxide from Transfynydd nuclear power plant (UK)
12-1968: A B-52 plane with nuclear bombs on board crashes near Toronto (Canada)
13-1960: First French nuclear test.
13-1980: A brief power excursion in Reactor A2 led to a rupture of fuel bundles and a minor release (8 x 1010 Bq) of nuclear materials at the Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant. The reactor was repaired and continued operation until its decommissioning in 1992.
15-1993: Spillage of 18,000 litres of heavy water at Darlington nuclear power plant (Canada)
16-1973: Container filled with Cobalt-60 lost in the North Sea
17-1984: Accident at Kozloduy nuclear power plant (Bulgaria)
18-1988: Report of core melt in the nuclear reactor of the Soviet Ice-Breaker "Rossiya"
19-1986: Three workers suffer contamination at the Sellafield reprocessing plant (UK)
20-1990: Eight employees receive radiation exposure at Point Lepreau (Canada)
21-1976: Accident at Bohunice nuclear power plant (Slovakia)
22-1993: High pressure steam accident kills one worker and injures two others at Fukushima nuclear power plant (Japan).
22-1977: Jaslovské Bohunice, Czechoslovakia - Fuel damaged.
Operators neglected to remove moisture absorbing materials from a fuel rod assembly before loading it into the KS 150 reactor at power plant A-1. The accident resulted in damaged fuel integrity, extensive corrosion damage of fuel cladding and release of radioactivity into the plant area. The plant was decommissioned following this accident.
23-1981: Accidental explosion of a Pershing-II missile in Germany
24-1972: Accident on board Soviet nuclear-powered submarine causes vessel to lose all power
25-1983: Failure of automatic shut-down at Salem nuclear power plant (USA)
26-1988: Increased levels of radioactivity at Bohunice nuclear power plant (Slovakia)
27-1983: Nuclear powered satellite falls into the Indian Ocean
28-1992: Software failure in the control computer at Embalse nuclear power plant (Argentina).
28-1979: Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States - Partial meltdown!
Equipment failures and worker mistakes contributed to a loss of coolant and a partial core meltdown at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station 15 km (9 miles) southeast of Harrisburg. While the reactor was extensively damaged on-site radiation exposure was under 100 millirems (less than annual exposure due to natural sources), with exposure of 1 millirem (10 µSv) to approximately 2 million people. There were no fatalities. Follow up radiological studies predict at most one long-term cancer fatality.

February 2003: Oak Ridge, Tennessee Y-12 facility. During the final testing of a new saltless uranium processing method, there was a small explosion followed by a fire. The explosion occurred in an unvented vessel containing unreacted calcium, water and depleted uranium. An exothermic reaction among these articles generated enough steam to burst the container. This small explosion breached its glovebox, allowing air to enter and ignite some loose uranium powder. Three employees were contaminated. BWXT, a partnership of BWX Technologies and Bechtel National, was fined $82,500 for the accident.

March

1-1954: Fall-out of US nuclear weapons test "Bravo" contaminates the inhabitants of the Pacific island of Rongelap.
2-1994: Breakdown of cooling system at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
3-1992: Technical failure at Novovoronezh nuclear power plant (Russia)
4-1977: Kozloduy nuclear power plant affected by an earthquake (Bulgaria)
5-
6-1985: Emergency cooling system out of order at the Grohnde nuclear power plant (Germany
6-2006: Erwin, Tennessee, United States - Nuclear material leak. Thirty-five liters of a highly enriched uranium solution leaked during transfer into a lab at Nuclear Fuel Services Erwin Plant. The incident caused a seven-month shutdown. A required public hearing on the licensing of the plant was not held due to the absence of public notification
7-
8-1972: Radioactive water has to be pumped out of the Indian Point nuclear power plant (USA)
9-1992: Fire at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
10-1956: A B-47 plane disappears with nuclear weapons on board in the Atlantic Ocean
11-1958: A B-47 plane loses nuclear bomb in South Carolina (USA)
12-1981: Tornado washes nuclear waste from Moruroa into the lagoon (Pacific)
13-1986: US nuclear submarine runs aground and suffers damage
14-1961: A B-52 plane crashes with nuclear bombs on board in California (USA)
15-1989: Technical failure of fuel roads at Pickering nuclear power plant (Canada)
16-
17-1984: Emergency cooling system at San Onofere nuclear power plant fails (USA)
18-1987: Fire and release of radioactivity at Australian nuclear research facility
19-
20-1977: Temperature increase at Rancho Seco nuclear power plant (USA)
21-1984: Soviet nuclear submarine collides with US aircraft carrier "Kitty Hawk"
22-1975: Fire in reactor at Browns Ferry nuclear power plant (USA)
23-
24-1992: Incident with radiation leakage, shut-down of reactor at Leningrad nuclear power plant (Russia)
25-1992: Technical failure at Leningrad nuclear power plant (Russia)
26-1991: Refuelling accident at Wuergassen nuclear power plant (Germany)
27-
28-1979: Partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (USA)
29-1992: Failure of shut-down system at Ignalina nuclear power plant (Lithuania)
30-
31-1992: Automatic shut-down due to failure of pump system at Kalinin nuclear power plant (Russia)

April

1-1989: Control rod failure at Gravelines nuclear power plant (France)
2-1979: Two workers suffer radioactive contamination at Tokaimura nuclear complex (Japan)
3-1960: Melting of fuel elements cause a release of radioactivity at the Test Reactor at Waltz Mills (USA)
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5-
6-1993: Explosion at the Tomsk-7 nuclear complex (Russia) A pressure buildup led to an explosive mechanical failure in a 34 cubic meter stainless steel reaction vessel buried in a concrete bunker under building 201 of the radiochemical works at the Tomsk-7 Siberian Chemical Enterprise plutonium reprocessing facility. The vessel contained a mixture of concentrated nitric acid, uranium (8757 kg), plutonium (449 g) along with a mixture of radioactive and organic waste from a prior extraction cycle. The explosion dislodged the concrete lid of the bunker and blew a large hole in the roof of the building, releasing approximately 6 GBq of Pu 239 and 30 TBq of various other radionuclides into the environment. The contamination plume extended 28 km NE of building 201, 20 km beyond the facility property. The small village of Georgievka (pop. 200) was at the end of the fallout plume, but no fatalities, illnesses or injuries were reported. The accident exposed 160 on-site workers and almost two thousand cleanup workers to total doses of up to 50 mSv (the threshold limit for radiation workers is 100 mSv per 5 years)
7-1992: Failure of automatic shut-down system at Novovoronezh nuclear power plant (Russia)
8-1989: Soviet nuclear submarine "Komsomolets" sinks off Norway
9-1981: US-nuclear submarine "George Washington" crashes against a freighter ship
10-1963: US-nuclear submarine sinks with 123 crew members in the Atlantic
10-2003: Hungary - Fuel damaged, Partially spent fuel rods undergoing cleaning in a tank of heavy water ruptured and spilled fuel pellets at Paks Nuclear Power Plant. It is suspected that inadequate cooling of the rods during the cleaning process combined with a sudden influx of cold water thermally shocked fuel rods causing them to split. Boric acid was added to the tank to prevent the loose fuel pellets from achieving criticality.
11-1950: A B-29 plane crashes in New Mexico, thirteen people killed.
12-1970: Soviet nuclear submarine sinks in the Atlantic
13-1979: Fire in the generator of the Baersbeck nuclear power plant (Sweden)
14-1970: Soviet nuclear submarine sinks with 52 crew members in Indian ocean
15-1983: Incident at Turkey Point nuclear power plant (USA)
16-1992: Technical failure of reactor shut-down system at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
17-1970: Incident involving a vehicle at a French nuclear test site in the South Pacific causes a plutonium spillage into the ocean.
18-1992: Technical failure during refuelling at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
19-1984: Technical failure at Sequoyah nuclear power plant causes spillage of radioactive coolant water. (USA)
19-2005: Sellafield, England, United Kingdom - Nuclear material leak. Twenty metric tons of uranium and 160 kilograms of plutonium dissolved in 83,000 litres of nitric acid leaked over several months from a cracked pipe into a stainless steel sump chamber at the Thorp nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. The partially processed spent fuel was drained into holding tanks outside the plant.
20-1973: Thousands of cubic meters of radioactive waste flow out of Hanford nuclear weapons complex (USA)
21-1964: US-satellite disperses 1.2.kg plutonium into the atmosphere.
22-1983: Reactor shut-down due to failure of fuel rods at Kursk nuclear power plant (Russia)
23-1991: Lost of offsite power cause technical failure at "Vermont Yankee" nuclear submarine (USA)
24-
25-1990: Flooding of building due to increase of coolant level at Bohunice nuclear power plant (Slovakia)
26-1986: Explosion of reactor 4 at Chernobyl nuclear power plant; the worst civilian nuclear accident to date.
A mishandled reactor safety test led to an uncontrolled power excursion, causing a severe steam explosion, meltdown and release of radioactive material at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant located approximately 100 kilometers north-northwest of Kiev. Approximately fifty fatalities (mostly cleanup personnel) resulted from the accident and the immediate aftermath. An additional nine fatal cases of thyroid cancer in children in the Chernobyl area have been attributed to the accident. The explosion and combustion of the graphite reactor core spread radioactive material over much of Europe. 100,000 people were evacuated from the areas immediately surrounding Chernobyl in addition to 300,000 from the areas of heavy fallout in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. An "Exclusion Zone" was created surrounding the site encompassing approximately 1,000 mi² (3,000 km²) and deemed off-limits for human habitation for an indefinite period. Several studies by governments, UN agencies and environmental groups have estimated the consequences and eventual number of casualties. Their findings are subject to controversy.
27-
28-1988: Release of 5000 Curies of tritium gas from the Bruyere le Chatel military nuclear complex (France)
29-1986: US-nuclear submarine "Atlanta" hits the ground off Gibralta
30-1992: Breakdown of cooling system at Novovoronezh nuclear power plant (Russia)

May

1-1992: Technical failure at Ignalina nuclear power plant (Lithuania)
2-1979: Technical fault at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant triggers emergency shut-down (USA)
3-1974: Leakage at Hanford nuclear weapons complex (USA)
4-1986: Release of radiation from Hamm-Uentrop nuclear power plant (Germany), A spherical fuel pebble became lodged in the pipe used to deliver fuel elements to the reactor at an experimental 300-megawatt THTR-300 HTGR. Attempts by an operator to dislodge the fuel pebble damaged its cladding, releasing radiation detectable up to two kilometers from the reactor
5-1987: Pershing nuclear missile ends up in a ditch after a transport accident at Heilbronn (Germany)
6-1989: Fire of pump equipment at Bohunice nuclear power plant (Slovakia)
7-1992: Failure of emergency system at Smolensk nuclear power plant (Russia)
8-1964: First Chinese nuclear test
9-1992: Technical failure of cooling system at Hatch nuclear power plant (USA)

9-2008: Entergy Nuclear admits to a failure to monitor high level radiation at on site dry casks.
10-1965: Release of eight cubic metres of cooling water from Savannah River reprocessing plant (USA)
11-1969: Fire at Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant causes plutonium to spontaneously ignite. (USA)
12-1984: Uncontrolled power surge at Bohunice nuclear power plant (Slovakia)
13-1992: Tube leak causes a radioactive release of 12 Curies of radioactivity from Tarapur nuclear power station (India)
14-1986: The power lines to the Palo Verde nuclear power plant are sabotaged (USA)
15-
16-1992: Reactor shut-down at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
17-1984: Fire on board the US-nuclear submarine "Guitarro"
18-1968: Accident during launch of US satellite, radioactive materials fall into ocean near Califiornia coast
19-
20-1974: First Indian nuclear test, also 1978:Rancho Seko near miss
21-1968: US-nuclear submarine "Scorpion" sinks off the Acores, 99 people die
22-1957: Human error causes a B-36 plane to release a nuclear bomb in New Mexico
22-1975: Browns Ferry Unit 1 fire
23-1958: Accident and release of radioactivity at the Chalk River experimental reactor (Canada)
24-1968: Incident on board of Soviet nuclear submarine "K- 27", 5 crew members killed by radiation release
25-
26-1990: During refuelling, five cubic meters of radioactive water spilled at the Fessenheim nuclear power plant (France)
27-1993: Reactor shut-down due to breakdown of cooling system at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
28-1970: Collision of the US-nuclear submarine "Daniel Boone".
28-1979: Three Mile Island accident
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31-

June

1-1991: Failure of core cooling system at Belleville nuclear power plant (France)
2-1992: Total failure of centralised control system at the Smolensk nuclear power plant (Russia)
3-1980: Computer fault causes full-scale alert for US Military Strategic Command
4-1989: Fire in the cables of the cooling pumps at the Bohunice nuclear power plant (Slovakia)
5-1989:
6-1994: Fire at Beloyarsk nuclear power plant (Russia)
7-1960: Fire in a BOMARC-rocket in New Jersey causes plutonium release into the atmosphere (USA)
8-1992: Failure of cooling system at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
9-1985: Malfunction in the cooling system at Davis Blesse nuclear power plant (USA)
10-1985: Collision of a British nuclear submarine off the coast of Florida (USA)
11-1989: Spent fuel element dropped in the storage pool and damaged at Kruemmel nuclear power plant (Germany)
12-
13-
14-
15-1992: Technical failure at Sizewell nuclear power plant (UK)
16-1988: Technical failure at Zorita nuclear power plant (Spain)
17-1967: First Chinese hydrogen nuclear bomb test
18-1978: Release of two tons of radioactive steam from Brunsbuettel nuclear power plant (Germany)

18-2004: Transformer Fire at Vermont Yankee
19-1992: Leak in pipe conducting sea water to cooling system at Leningrad nuclear power plant (Russia)
20-1985 Collision of two trucks carrying nuclear bombs in Scotland (UK)
21-
22-
23-1986: Twelve people receive `slight' plutonium contamination while inspecting a store room at Tokaimura nuclear complex (Japan)
24-1992: Technical failure of control system at Leningrad nuclear power plant (Russia)
25-
26-1989: Fire and reactor damage in a Soviet submarine
27-1985: Explosion and steam leakage killed 14 workers at Balakovo nuclear power plant (Russia)
28-
29-1991: Power limited due to error between actual and indicated power at Pickering nuclear power plant(Canada).
30-1983: Total loss of coolant at Embalse nuclear power plant (Argentina)

Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan - Control rod malfunction
Operators attempting to insert one control rod during an inspection neglected procedure and instead withdrew three causing a 15 minute uncontrolled sustained reaction at the number 1 reactor of Shika Nuclear Power Plant. The Hokuriku Electric Company who owned the reactor did not report this incident and falsified records, covering it up until March, 2007.

July

1-1983: Technical failure causes release of Iodine-131 from Phillipsburg nuclear power plant (Germany)
2-1966: French nuclear testing in the South Pacific begins 3-1981: Fire at North Anna nuclear power plant (USA)
4-1961: Incident on board of Soviet nuclear submarine "K- 19", radiation release kills 9 crew members
5-
6-1959: US plane carrying nuclear weapons crashes and catches on fire
7-
8-
9-1991: Flaw in cooling system at Wurgassen nuclear power plant (Russia)
10-1991: Leakage of radiation at Bilibino nuclear power plant (Russia)
11-
12-1993: Failure of control system at Susquehanna nuclear power plant (USA)
13-
14-1992: Reactor shut-down due to failure of cooling system at Novovoronezh nuclear power plant (Russia)
15-
16-1945: First explosion of a nuclear bomb ("Trinity") in New Mexico (USA)
17-1991: Reactor shut-down due to break of control system at Sendai nuclear power plant (Japan)
18-1991: Steam leakage causes reactor shut-down at Paks nuclear power plant (Hungary)
19-
20-1992: Leakage of radiation due to breakdown of cooling system at Ignalina nuclear power plant (Lithuania)
21-
22-1992: Two workers contaminated at Dampierre nuclear power plant (France)
23-
24-1989: Refuelling accident at Isar nuclear power plant (Germany)
25-1946: US nuclear test "Baker" causes unexpected plutonium contamination on target vessels
26-1992: Temperature rise in storage pool at Gravelines nuclear power plant (France)
27-1956: US plane crashes into nuclear ammunition storage in the UK
28-1957: US plane loses two nuclear bombs in the Atlantic
29-
30-1986: Human error causes the nuclear warhead to be knocked off a Pershing rocket (Germany)
31-1993: Refuelling machine malfunctions at the Wylfa nuclear power plant (UK)

August

1-1983: An engineer receives a fatal radiation dose at a research reactor in Argentina
2-1987: Elevated radiation level after Soviet nuclear test
3-1983: Argentinean engineer dies from radiation dose received two days earlier
4-
5-1950: B-29 plane with nuclear weapons on board crashes; 19 people killed (USA)
6-1945: Nuclear bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima
7-
8-
9-1945: Nuclear bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki
10-1985: Explosion on board a Soviet nuclear submarine
11-1988: Damage detected at Atucha nuclear power plant (Argentina)
12-
13-
14-1989: Instrumentation and control failure at Grand Gulf nuclear power plant (USA)
15-1992:
16-1991: Eight control rods show delays in emergency shut- down insertion time at Millstone Point nuclear power plant (USA)
17-1991: Automatic shut-down due to technical problems at Sendai nuclear power plant (Japan)
18-1953: First explosion of Soviet hydrogen bomb
19-1986: Flooding at the Cattenom nuclear power plant (France)
20-1974 Incident at Beznau nuclear power plant (Switzerland)
21-1980: Accident on board Soviet nuclear submarine, believed to kill at least nine crew members.

21-2007: Cooling Tower Collapse at Vermont Yankee.
22-1992: Failure of shut-down system at Novovoronezh nuclear power plant (Russia)
23-
24-
25-1984: French freighter sinks in the English Channel with 375 tonnes of uraniumhexafluoride on board
26-1989: Technical failure at Ignalina nuclear power plant (Lithuania)
27-1990: Cable fire causes loss of control of the position of control rods at Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Ukraine)
28-1992: Fire in electro-generator at St.Alban nuclear power plant (France)
29-1949: First explosion of Soviet atomic bomb
30-1985: Fire in a barrel of radioactive waste at Karlsruhe nuclear complex (Germany)
31-1985: Fire at Fukushima nuclear power plant during routine shut-down (Japan)

September

1-1993: Fire at Balakovo nuclear power plant (Russia)
2-
3-1974: Release of radioactive water at Los Alamos nuclear weapons Laboratory (USA)
4-1988: Fire at Perry nuclear power plant (USA)
5-1988: Fire at Ignalina nuclear power plant (Lithuania)
6-1991: Incident and steam leak during refueling at Barsebeck nuclear power plant (Sweden)
7-
8-
9-1989: Control rod failure at Olkiluoto nuclear power plant (Finland)
10-
11-1957: 15 kgs of plutonium catch fire at Rocky Flats nuclear weapons complex (USA)
12-1992: Leakage of radioactive water at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
13-1987: 249 people are contaminated in Brazil, due to handling discarded nuclear medical equipment, four people subsequently die
14-1991: Leakage at Kozloduy nuclear power plant (Bulgaria)
15-1986: Fire on board a US plane carrying nuclear weapons
16-1990: Superphenix Fast Breeder Reactor is closed down due to technical failures (France)
17-1988: Nuclear weapons convoy road accident kills one person (UK)
18-1988: Technical failure at Stade nuclear power plant (Germany)
19-1984: Collision of a Soviet nuclear submarine
20-1977: US-nuclear submarine "Ray" hits the sea-bed, three crew members are injured
21-1989: Manual shut-down of WNP nuclear power plant (USA)
22-1980: Pump failure causes accidental release of radioactive water at La Hague reprocessing plant (France)
23-1969: Radioactive contamination of atmosphere during the unsuccessful launch of a Soviet spaceship.
23-1983: Buenos Aires, Argentina - Accidental release. An operator error during a fuel plate reconfiguration in an experimental test reactor led to an excursion of 3×1017 fissions at the RA-2 facility. The operator absorbed 2000 rad (20 Gy) of gamma and 1700 rad (17 Gy) of neutron radiation which killed him two days later. Another 17 people outside of the reactor room absorbed doses ranging from 35 rad
24-1973: 35 workers at the Sellafield reprocessing plant are contaminated following a technical failure (UK)
25-1955: First Soviet underwater nuclear explosion near Novaya Zemlya (Arctic Ocean)
26-
27-1974: Soviet nuclear-capable destroyer sinks in the Black Sea
28-1990: Cables for reactor control and protection system supply overheat at Bohunice nuclear power plant (Slovakia)
29-1957: Thousands of square miles contaminated by accident at the Chelyabinsk nuclear complex (Russia)
30-1990: Failure of reactor core cooling system at Palisades nuclear power plant (USA).
30-1999: Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan - Accidental. Workers put uranyl nitrate solution containing about 16.6 kg of uranium, which exceeded the critical mass, into a precipitation tank at a uranium reprocessing facility in Tokai-mura northeast of Tokyo, Japan. The tank was not designed to dissolve this type of solution and was not configured to prevent eventual criticality. Three workers were exposed to (neutron) radiation doses in excess of allowable limits. Two of these workers died. 116 other workers received lesser doses of 1 mSv or greater though not in excess of the allowable limit.

October

1-1983: Technical failure and human error cause accident at Blayas nuclear power plant(France)
2-1968: Leakage at La Hague reprocessing plant (France) 3-1952: First UK nuclear test
4-1981: Release of 300-times the normal discharge level of Iodine-131 at Sellafield reprocessing plant (UK)
5-1966: Partial core meltdown at the Fermi fast breeder reactor (USA)
6-1986: Soviet nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Bermuda
7-1984: Emergency shut-down of Paks nuclear power plant (Hungary)
8-1985: Accidental radioactive release into the sea from Hinkley Point nuclear power station (UK)
9-1991: Technical failure at Yugno-Ukrainskaya nuclear power plant (Ukraine)
10-1957: Three tonnes of uranium catch fire at the Windscale reprocessing plant (now Sellafield UK)
11-1957: US nuclear bomber crashes in Florida and catches fire
12-
13-1977: Sea water runs into the cooling circuit of Hunterston nuclear power plant (UK)
14-1953: Fall-out from British nuclear test "Totem" contaminates Aborigines in the Australian desert
15-1988: French officials carry out an experiment to test the effects of releasing 7000 Curies of radioactivity
16-1964: First Chinese nuclear test
17-1969: Fuel elements melt at St Laurent des Eaux nuclear power plant (France)
18-1991: Technical failure at Zaporozhe nuclear power plant (Ukraine)
19-1991: Offsite power failure at Smolensk nuclear power plant (Russia)
20-2008: Twenty-five workers on the top floor of the reactor building at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant had to be evacuated Monday night after the top of the reactor vessel was placed too close to a fan, which distributed unsafe levels of radiation.(US)
21-1991: Fire on board "Sceptre" nuclear submarine in Scotland
22-1993: Instrumentation and Control failure at Saint Alban nuclear power plant (France)
23-1989: Failure of core cooling system at Dresdan nuclear power plant (USA)
24-
25-1991: Failure of shut-down system during refuelling at Novovoronezh nuclear power plant (Russia)
26-1991: Incident during refueling at Vogtle nuclear power plant (USA)
27-1991: Technical failure of shut-down system at Zaporozhe nuclear power plant (Ukraine)
28-
29-1991: Technical failure causes automatic shut-down at Kalinin nuclear power plant (Russia)
30-1991:
31-1986: US-nuclear submarine "Augusta" involved in collision

November

1-1992: Cracks in cooling system equipment at Brunsbuttel nuclear power plant (Germany)
2-1982: Nuclear missile transporter crashes killing one person and injuring two others (Germany)
3-1990: Failure of core cooling equipment at Doel nuclear power plant (Belgium)
4-1970: Explosion on board a nuclear-capable US-destroyer kills two sailors
5-1967: UK nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine `HMS Repulse' runs aground 30 minutes after its launch
6-
7-1967: Release of radioactivity at Grenoble nuclear power plant (France)
8-
9-1955: Core meltdown at EBR fast breeder reactor (USA)
10-
11-1988: Accident during refueling on board of Soviet nuclear powered ice-breaker "Lenin"
12-1993: London Convention bans the dumping of nuclear waste into the sea
13-1974: Karen Silkwood, a worker at a US nuclear plant, dies mysteriously on her way to hand important documents to a Trade Union Official and a journalist
14-1989: Breakdown of fuel rod control system at Oconee nuclear power plant (USA)
15-1989: Fire on board US-nuclear submarine "Finback"
16-1983: Sellafield reprocessing plant discharges highly radioactive wastes directly into the sea (UK)
17-
18-1991: Reactor shut-down due to technical failure at Balakovo nuclear power plant (Russia)
19-1980: US nuclear-missile almost launched during a drill exercise.
20-1989: Fire in turbine equipment at Kozloduy nuclear power plant (Bulgaria)
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22-
23-1991: Leak of 190,000 litres of water from cooling system, reactor shut-down at Oconee nuclear power plant (USA)
24-1989: Technical failure nearly causes core meltdown at Greifswald nuclear power plant (Germany), Operators disabled three of six cooling pumps to test emergency shutoffs. Instead of the expected automatic shutdown a fourth pump failed causing excessive heating which damaged ten fuel rods. The accident was attributed to sticky relay contacts and generally poor construction in the Soviet-built reactor.
25-1991: Failure of cooling system causes automatic reactor shut-down at Kursk nuclear power plant (Russia)
26-1958: B-47 plane catches fire, destroying one nuclear weapon (USA)
27-1991: Disfunction of automatic shut-down system at Bilibino nuclear power plant (Russia)
28-1991: Failure of control system causes reactor shut- down at Kursk nuclear power plant (Russia)
29-1982: US nuclear submarine collides with US-destroyer
30-1975: 1.5 million Curies released from Leningrad nuclear power plant (Russia)

December

1-1991: Technical failure at Beloyarsk nuclear power plant (Russia)
2-1949: US experiment "Green Run" contaminates communities up to 70 miles away from the Hanford nuclear weapons complex (USA)
3-1988: Explosion at the Burghfield Atomic Weapons Establishment (UK)
4-1990: 2 workers irradiated during refuelling at Blayais nuclear power plant (France)
5-1965: Plane crashes with nuclear bombs on board off the coast of Japan
6-1991: Failure of control system during refuelling causes reactor shut-down at Smolensk nuclear power plant (Russia)
7-1991: Failure of cooling system at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
8-1995: Fire due to leakage of sodium coolant from Monju fast breeder reactor, Japanese nuclear industry attempts to cover up full extent of accident, reactor shut-down
9-1986: Explosion at Surry nuclear power plant, four people killed (USA).
10-1991: Failure of turbo-generator causes reactor shut- down at Balakovo nuclear power plant (Russia)
11-1991: Human error causes failure of automatic reactor shut-down equipment at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
12-1952: World's first major nuclear reactor disaster, Chalk River experimental reactor (Canada)
13-1988: Four of the eight emergency installations discovered out of order at Brokdorf nuclear power plant (Germany)
14-1991: Technical failure causes automatic shut-down at Balakovo nuclear power plant (Russia)
15-1991: Technical failure at Kalinin nuclear power plant (Russia)
16-1991: Technical failure at Kola nuclear power plant (Russia)
17-1987: Severe incident at Biblis nuclear power plant (Germany)
18-1984: Fire at Kalinin nuclear power plant (Russia)
19-1980: Plutonium transport accident in the USA
20-1990: Control element discovered damaged at Novovoronezh nuclear power plant (Russia)
21-1991: Radiation leakage at Kolskaya nuclear power plant (Russia)
22-1987: Accidental release of 50 tonnes of water from Atucha nuclear power plant (Argentina)
23-1988: Two control rods jammed at Blayais nuclear power plant (France)
24-1991: Reactor shut-down due to technical failure at Kalinin nuclear power plant (Russia)
25-1992: Radioactive water leakage at Beloyarsk nuclear power plant (Russia)
26-
27-1991: Automatic shut-down Balakovo nuclear power plant (Russia)
28-1990: Incident and radiation leakage at Leningrad nuclear power plant (Russia)
29-
30-1988: Reactor shut-down due to failure of control equipment at Pilgrim nuclear power plant (USA)
31-1978: Fire and loss of reactor control, 8 workers irradiated at Beloyarsk nuclear power plant (Russia)