Nuclear Incidents
A record of significant nuclear events across all INES levels. Filter by severity or sort chronologically.
Chernobyl Disaster
Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
The worst nuclear power plant accident in history, releasing massive amounts of radioactive material across Europe.
Fukushima Daiichi Disaster
ลkuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
A series of nuclear meltdowns triggered by the 2011 Tลhoku earthquake and tsunami, causing the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Kyshtym Disaster
Chelyabinsk Oblast, Soviet Union (now Russia)
A chemical explosion at the Mayak nuclear fuel reprocessing plant that contaminated vast areas of the Soviet Union, kept secret for decades.
Goiรขnia Accident
Goiรขnia, Goiรกs, Brazil
A caesium-137 radiological contamination event after an abandoned medical device was scavenged, irradiating hundreds in a densely populated city.
Three Mile Island Accident
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA
The most serious nuclear accident in US commercial nuclear power plant history, caused by a partial reactor meltdown.
Windscale Fire
Cumberland, England, United Kingdom
The worst nuclear accident in British history, a reactor fire that released radioactive contamination across the UK and Europe.
SL-1 Reactor Accident
Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
The first fatal nuclear reactor accident in U.S. history, caused by a single control rod being manually withdrawn too far.
Tokaimura Criticality Accident
Tลkai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
Japan's worst criticality accident - workers illegally mixed excessive uranium, triggering an uncontrolled chain reaction lasting 20 hours.
Vandellรณs I Fire
Vandellรณs, Catalonia, Spain
A turbine fire at Spain's Vandellรณs I nuclear plant disabled multiple safety systems and nearly caused a much greater accident.
Davis-Besse Reactor Head Corrosion
Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA
Severe corrosion had eaten nearly through a reactor vessel head - leaving only a thin steel liner preventing a potential loss-of-coolant accident.
Mayak Ruthenium-106 Release
Mayak, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia
An unexplained release of radioactive ruthenium-106 from the Mayak nuclear complex was detected across Europe, with Russia initially denying any incident.
Forsmark-1 Power Failure
Forsmark, Uppsala County, Sweden
An electrical failure at Forsmark left the plant with only half its backup power, and operators unable to determine reactor safety status for 20 minutes.
Hunterston B Cracked Graphite Bricks
Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland
Inspections revealed thousands of cracked graphite moderator bricks, prompting extended shutdowns and ultimately accelerating the closure of the plant.
Leibstadt Fuel Rod Contamination
Leibstadt, Aargau, Switzerland
Switzerland's Leibstadt plant was shut down after radioactive contamination was detected on fuel rod surfaces, requiring a year of inspection and repairs.