Editing Nuclear power (section)

=== Accidents ===
[[File:Fukushima I by Digital Globe crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Following the 2011 [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]], the world's worst [[nuclear accident]] since 1986, 50,000 households were displaced after [[radiation]] leaked into the air, soil and sea.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yamazaki |first1=Tomoko |last2=Ozasa |first2=Shunichi |name-list-style=amp |date=2011-06-27 |title=Fukushima Retiree Leads Anti-Nuclear Shareholders at Tepco Annual Meeting |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-26/fukushima-retiree-to-lead-anti-nuclear-motion.html |work=Bloomberg}}</ref> Radiation checks led to bans of some shipments of vegetables and fish.<ref>{{cite news |author=Saito |first=Mari |date=2011-05-07 |title=Japan anti-nuclear protesters rally after PM call to close plant |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-nuclear-idUSTRE74610J20110507 |work=Reuters}}</ref>]]
[[File:Decay heat illustration2.PNG|thumb|upright=1.2|Reactor [[decay heat]] as a fraction of full power after the reactor shutdown, using two different correlations. To remove the decay heat, reactors need cooling after the shutdown of the fission reactions. A loss of the ability to remove decay heat caused the [[Fukushima accident]].]]
{{See also|Energy accidents|Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents|Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents}}

Some serious [[nuclear and radiation accidents by death toll|nuclear and radiation accidents]] have occurred. The severity of nuclear accidents is generally classified using the [[International Nuclear Event Scale]] (INES) introduced by the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA). The scale ranks anomalous events or accidents on a scale from 0 (a deviation from normal operation that poses no safety risk) to 7 (a major accident with widespread effects). There have been three accidents of level 5 or higher in the civilian nuclear power industry, two of which, the [[Chernobyl accident]] and the [[Fukushima accident]], are ranked at level 7.

The first major nuclear accidents were the [[Kyshtym disaster]] in the Soviet Union and the [[Windscale fire]] in the United Kingdom, both in 1957. The first major accident at a nuclear reactor in the USA occurred in 1961 at the [[SL-1]], a [[U.S. Army]] experimental nuclear power reactor at the [[Idaho National Laboratory]]. An uncontrolled chain reaction resulted in a [[steam explosion]] which killed the three crew members and caused a [[nuclear meltdown|meltdown]].<ref name=ido19313>''[http://www.id.doe.gov/foia/PDF/IDO-19313.pdf IDO-19313: Additional Analysis of the SL-1 Excursion]'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927065809/http://www.id.doe.gov/foia/PDF/IDO-19313.pdf |date=2011-09-27 }} ''Final Report of Progress July through October 1962'', November 21, 1962, Flight Propulsion Laboratory Department, General Electric Company, Idaho Falls, Idaho, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McKeown |first=William |title=Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America's First Nuclear Accident |publisher=ECW Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-55022-562-4 |location=Toronto, Canada |language=en}}</ref> Another serious accident happened in 1968, when one of the two [[liquid-metal-cooled reactor]]s on board the {{ship|Soviet submarine|K-27}} underwent a [[fuel element failure]], with the emission of gaseous [[fission product]]s into the surrounding air, resulting in 9 crew fatalities and 83 injuries.<ref name=johnston2007>{{cite web |url=http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/radevents/radevents1.html |title=Deadliest radiation accidents and other events causing radiation casualties |author=Johnston, Robert |date=2007-09-23 |publisher=Database of Radiological Incidents and Related Events |access-date=2011-03-14 |archive-date=2007-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023104305/http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/radevents/radevents1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident was caused by the [[2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami]]. The accident has not caused any radiation-related deaths but resulted in radioactive contamination of surrounding areas. The difficult [[Fukushima disaster cleanup|cleanup operation]] is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars over 40 or more years.<ref name="Richard Schiffman">{{cite news |author=Schiffman |first=Richard |date=2013-03-12 |title=Two years on, America hasn't learned lessons of Fukushima nuclear disaster |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/12/fukushima-nuclear-accident-lessons-for-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202143654/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/12/fukushima-nuclear-accident-lessons-for-us |archive-date=2017-02-02 |access-date=2016-12-12 |work=The Guardian |location=London, England}}</ref><ref name="Martin Fackler">{{cite news |author=Fackler |first=Martin |date=2011-06-01 |title=Report Finds Japan Underestimated Tsunami Danger |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/world/asia/02japan.html?_r=1&ref=world |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205043423/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/world/asia/02japan.html?_r=1&ref=world |archive-date=2017-02-05 |access-date=2017-02-25 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> The [[Three Mile Island accident]] in 1979 was a smaller scale accident, rated at INES level 5. There were no direct or indirect deaths caused by the accident.<ref name="timenuke">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887705,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328130544/http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887705,00.html|archive-date=March 28, 2009|title=The Worst Nuclear Disasters|date=2009-03-25|access-date=2013-06-22|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The impact of nuclear accidents is controversial. According to [[Benjamin K. Sovacool]], fission [[energy accidents]] ranked first among energy sources in terms of their total economic cost, accounting for 41% of all property damage attributed to energy accidents.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Sovacool | first1 = B.K. | title = The costs of failure: A preliminary assessment of major energy accidents, 1907–2007 | doi = 10.1016/j.enpol.2008.01.040 | journal = Energy Policy | volume = 36 | issue = 5 | pages = 1802–1820 | year = 2008 | bibcode = 2008EnPol..36.1802S }}</ref> Another analysis found that coal, oil, [[liquid petroleum gas]] and hydroelectric accidents (primarily due to the [[Banqiao Dam disaster]]) have resulted in greater economic impacts than nuclear power accidents.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burgherr |first1=Peter |last2=Hirschberg |first2=Stefan |title=A Comparative Analysis of Accident Risks in Fossil, Hydro, and Nuclear Energy Chains |journal=Human and Ecological Risk Assessment |date=10 October 2008 |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=947–973 |doi=10.1080/10807030802387556 |bibcode=2008HERA...14..947B |s2cid=110522982 }}</ref> The study compares latent cancer deaths attributable to nuclear power with immediate deaths from other energy sources per unit of energy generated, and does not include fossil fuel related cancer and other indirect deaths created by the use of fossil fuel consumption in its "severe accident" (an accident with more than five fatalities) classification. The Chernobyl accident in 1986 caused approximately 50 deaths from direct and indirect effects, and some temporary serious injuries from [[acute radiation syndrome]].<ref name=WHO2012>{{cite web|date=23 April 2011|title=Chernobyl at 25th anniversary – Frequently Asked Questions|publisher=World Health Organisation|access-date=14 April 2012|url=https://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/20110423_FAQs_Chernobyl.pdf|archive-date=17 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417011209/http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/20110423_FAQs_Chernobyl.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The future predicted mortality from increases in cancer rates is estimated at 4000 in the decades to come.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull383/boxp6.html |title=Assessing the Chernobyl Consequences |website=International Atomic Energy Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830073635/http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull383/boxp6.html |archive-date=30 August 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=UNSCEAR_2008_D>{{cite web |url=http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2008/11-80076_Report_2008_Annex_D.pdf |title=UNSCEAR 2008 Report to the General Assembly, Annex D |website=United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation |year=2008 |access-date=2018-12-15 |archive-date=2011-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804232629/http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2008/11-80076_Report_2008_Annex_D.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2008/09-86753_Report_2008_GA_Report_corr2.pdf |title=UNSCEAR 2008 Report to the General Assembly |website=United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation |year=2008 |access-date=2012-05-17 |archive-date=2019-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105222241/http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2008/09-86753_Report_2008_GA_Report_corr2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the costs have been large and are increasing.

Nuclear power works under an [[insurance]] framework that limits or structures accident liabilities in accordance with national and international conventions.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Conventions/liability.html | title=Publications: Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage | date=27 August 2014 | publisher=[[International Atomic Energy Agency]] | access-date=8 September 2016 | archive-date=3 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170113/http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Conventions/liability.html | url-status=live }}</ref> It is often argued that this potential shortfall in liability represents an external cost not included in the cost of nuclear electricity. This cost is small, amounting to about 0.1% of the [[levelized cost of electricity]], according to a study by the [[Congressional Budget Office]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/05-02-nuclear.pdf|title= Nuclear Power's Role in Generating Electricity|publisher= [[Congressional Budget Office]]|date= May 2008|access-date= 2016-09-08|archive-date= 2014-11-29|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141129011143/http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/05-02-nuclear.pdf|url-status= live}}</ref> These beyond-regular insurance costs for worst-case scenarios are not unique to nuclear power. [[Hydroelectric power]] plants are similarly not fully insured against a catastrophic event such as [[dam failure]]s. For example, the failure of the [[Banqiao Dam]] caused the death of an estimated 30,000 to 200,000 people, and 11 million people lost their homes. As private insurers base dam insurance premiums on limited scenarios, major disaster insurance in this sector is likewise provided by the state.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.damsafety.org/media/Documents/FEMA/AvailabilityOfDamInsurance.pdf | title=Availability of Dam Insurance | date=1999 | access-date=2016-09-08 | archive-date=2016-01-08 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108185336/http://www.damsafety.org/media/documents/fema/availabilityofdaminsurance.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>