Nuclear power plant accidents around the world

A reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union (present Ukraine) was destroyed in an explosive manner in 1986. The complete destruction of the reactor caused a massive release of radioactive substances.

The strongest earthquake in Japan’s history on 11 March 2011 and the resulting tsunami badly damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant on the east coast of Japan. Radioactive sub-stances were released into the air and into the sea.

Both accidents have been classified under Level 7 of the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), which means that they are major accidents with serious environmental effects.