Chernobyl and Bhopal ten years on comparisons and contrasts
- Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London (United Kingdom)
Within eighteen months in mid- 1980s, two of the most serious industrial accidents in history occurred. At Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh in central India, in the early hours of December 3, 1984, an explosion occurred at Union Carbide of India Ltd (UCIL)`s methyl isocyanate plant. Some 40 tonnes of a complex chemical mixture were released, causing several thousand deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries. At Chernobyl in the north of Ukraine, then part of the USSR, in the early hours of April 26, 1986, an explosion at a state-owned nuclear power plant caused the release of some 6 tonnes (possibly more) of radioactive materials. The {open_quote}immediate{close_quote} death toll was much lower than at Bhopal. The usually-quoted figure of 30, all of whom were on site in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, includes two who died on site from burns and falling masonry and 28 who died within the following few weeks from Acute Radiation Syndrome. (Another person on site died of a heart attack, which it is difficult to associate directly with the accident.) However, the effects of the accident were widespread, especially in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, and theoretical calculations suggest that further illness and premature deaths are to be expected for several years to come. This paper compares and contrasts these two accidents. There are striking similarities.
- OSTI ID:
- 447502
- Journal Information:
- Advances in Nuclear Science and Technology, Vol. 24; Other Information: PBD: 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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