Nuclear Reactor Accidents
About Nuclear Reactor Accidents
- Radiation reactor accidents occur almost exclusively at well-characterized fixed facilities, like nuclear reactors or nuclear power plants, or along prescribed transit routes when radioactive materials are moved.
- Typically, facility operators and local officials have formal response plans and practice response operations.
- For accidents at fixed facilities, like a nuclear power plant, there is likely to be a window of time before the release of radiation starts, as opposed to an improvised nuclear device (IND) or a nuclear bomb, which may be initiated without any advanced warning.
- With nuclear reactor sabotage incidents, there may be less warning time.
- Victims can have both exposure and contamination.
- Contamination with radioactive iodine has almost exclusively been identified in the aftermath of accidents at nuclear reactors (see Figure 1), although some exposure may occur with other types of radiological events. The need for prophylaxis/treatment with potassium iodide will be determined by officials managing the event, and instructions to potentially exposed populations will be given. Typically the most significant route of radioactive iodine uptake is ingestion, although inhalation may also occur.
Figure 1. Internal Exposure to Iodine-131 Through Ingestion
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Initiate Radiation Medical Management
- Choose Appropriate Algorithm: Evaluate for Contamination and/or Exposure
- Contamination: Diagnose/Manage
- Exposure: Diagnose/Manage Acute Radiation Syndrome
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