This article lists notable civilian accidents involving radioactive materials or involving ionizing radiation from artificial sources such as x-ray tubes and particle accelerators. Accidents related to nuclear power that involve fissile materials are listed at List of civilian nuclear accidents. Military accidents are listed at List of military nuclear accidents.
Scope of this article
In listing civilian radiation accidents, the following criteria have been followed: There must be well-attested and substantial health damage, property damage or contamination. The damage must be related directly to radioactive materials or ionizing radiation from a man-made source, not merely taking place at a facility where such are being used. To qualify as "civilian", the operation/material must be principally for non-military purposes. The event is not an event involving fissile material or a nuclear reactor.
Before 1950s
Clarence Madison Dally (1865–1904) – No INES level – New Jersey – overexposure of laboratory worker Various dates – No INES level – France – overexposure of scientists Marie Curie (1867–1934) was a Polish-French physicist and chemist. She was a pioneer in the early field of radioactivity, later becoming the first two-time Nobel laureate and the only person with Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry. Her death, at age 67, in 1934 was from aplastic anemia due to massive exposure to radiation in her work, much of which was carried out in a shed with no proper safety measures being taken, as the damaging effects of hard radiation were not generally understood at that time. She was known to carry test tubes full of radioactive isotopes in her pocket, and to store them in her desk drawer, resulting in massive exposure to radiation. She was known to remark on the pretty blue-green light the metals gave off in the dark. Although her papers are likely to present little risk today, they are nonetheless contaminated with Radium. They are kept in lead-lined boxes, and those who wish to consult them must wear gloves and sign a waiver out of caution. Various dates – No INES level – various locations – overexposure of workers Luminescent radium was used to paint watches and other items that glowed. The most notable incident is the "Radium Girls" of Orange, New Jersey where many workers suffered from radiation poisoning. Other towns including Ottawa, Illinois experienced contamination of homes and other structures, and became Superfund cleanup sites. Various dates – No INES level – Colorado, USA – contamination Radium mining and manufacturing left a number of streets in the state's capital and largest city of Denver contaminated. 1927–1930 – No INES level – USA – radium poisoning Eben Byers ingested almost 1400 bottles of Radithor, a radioactive patent medicine, leading to his death in 1932. He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a lead-lined coffin.
1950s
March, 1957 – No INES level – Houston, Texas, USA – exposure of workers
Two employees of a company licensed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to encapsulate sources for radiographic cameras received radiation burns after being exposed to 192Ir powder. The incident was reported in Look Magazine in 1961, but investigations published by the Mayo Clinic that same year found few of the radiological injuries claimed in widespread press reports. 10 October 1957 – Windscale fire at the facility in Cumberland, Northern England (now Sellafield, Cumbria), UK. It is amongst the world's worst incidents, rated 5 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, lasted for 3 days, spreading significant quantities of radioactive isotopes across UK and Europe. 2 July 1956 - Sylvania Electric Products explosion in Queens, New York City. Explosions of thorium slugs resulted in the death by toxic heavy metal poisoning of one plant employee. June, 1958 – Y-12 National Security Complex criticality incident – Eight workers injured in the incident.
1960s
In the 1962 Mexico City radiation accident, a boy found a 5 Curie Co-60 lost source in Mexico City and brought it home. Prolonged exposure to the source caused the death of the boy and three other members of the family.
In 1964, Robert Peabody died after an accident at the United Nuclear Corporation Fuels Recovery Plant in Wood River Junction Rhode Island.