List of the Largest Nuclear Accidents, Including One in Ukraine

Russia seized Europe's largest nuclear power plant (NPP) in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Friday (March 4th). This takeover followed a fire at the NPP caused by a shootout between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Although the fire was extinguished and no release of radioactive material was reported, the shootout near the NPP risked triggering an explosion that could threaten the safety of citizens in Russia, Ukraine, and neighboring countries.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, if the Zaporizhzhia NPP were to explode, the impact could be 10 times more devastating than the Chernobyl disaster.

The World's Largest Nuclear Disaster

The Chernobyl disaster was the explosion of a nuclear reactor in Ukraine in 1986, when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union.

According to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), the Chernobyl nuclear explosion released hundreds of metric tons of uranium into the atmosphere, causing widespread radioactive contamination in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, which is expected to persist for decades.

UNSCEAR estimates that this radioactive contamination has triggered more than 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer among children and adolescents in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, and increased cases of leukemia and cataracts in the region.

The Chernobyl disaster is considered one of the largest nuclear accidents in history, with a level 7 rating—the highest level of danger—on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES).

INES is a measure for assessing the impact of nuclear accidents developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The INES scale ranges from 1 to 7, where "1" signifies an anomaly, "2" an incident, "3" a serious incident, "4" an accident with local consequences, "5" an accident with wider consequences, "6" a serious accident, and "7" a major accident.

Besides Chernobyl, the Fukushima NPP accident in Japan in 2011 also had a level 7 rating on the INES scale. This accident was caused by an earthquake and tsunami.

Furthermore, the Mayak NPP accident in Russia had a level 6 rating on the INES scale. This was followed by nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island, USA, and Windscale Pile, UK, each with a level 6 rating on the INES scale.

According to Statista, during the period 1957-2011, there were 12 nuclear accidents worldwide. Japan, the UK, and France each experienced two accidents.

(Read Also: [Ukraine's Largest Nuclear Power Plant Burns, What is its Capacity?](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2022/03/04/pembangkit-listrik-tenaga-nuklir-terbesar-di-ukraina-terbakar-berapa-kapasitasnya))