Word: mishaps
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...most of the world, the Chernobyl nuclear accident was a disaster of terrifying proportions. But for the specialists struggling to save lives at Moscow Hospital No. 6, the mishap created a kind of medical classroom--a unique if horrific opportunity to learn how to cope with large-scale exposure to deadly radiation. So far, the lessons have been sobering. "This incident has demonstrated our very limited ability to respond to nuclear accidents," says Dr. Robert Gale, 40, a bone-marrow-transplant expert from UCLA who helped Soviet counterparts treat Chernobyl victims. "If we are very hard pressed to deal with...
...leader said that it was too early to determine the precise cause of the accident, which apparently began with a sudden power surge while the reactor was undergoing maintenance. That was followed by a devastating hydrogen blast and fire and the release of a cloud of radiation. While the mishap's "most serious consequences have been averted," Gorbachev said, "the end is not yet." Noting that the area around the plant remains dangerously contaminated, he added, "Extensive work still lies ahead...
...reprimanded. Western experts called the moves part of a concerted effort to blame local authorities for Moscow's delay in responding to the disaster--the first evacuations were not ordered until 36 hours after the accident--and its failure for three days to announce that a serious nuclear mishap had occurred...
Evidence of the danger that people in the Kiev area may be facing came from some distant sources. Experts found surprisingly high radiation levels, for example, in members of a Western Michigan University tour group that had visited Kiev two days after the mishap. Tests by health technicians at a Consumers Power nuclear plant near South Haven, Mich., showed that 14 of the tourists had absorbed almost 1,500 millirems of radiation, or 50 times the amount in a chest X ray. Robert English, corporate health physicist for Consumers Power, said that the Americans faced minimal long-term health hazards...
Rosen confirmed that the accident began with an explosion followed by a severe fire. He said the reactor was undergoing maintenance and operating at only 7% of its power when the mishap occurred. The blast halted all chain reactions in the unit's core, Rosen said, but it remained hot because the radioactive fuel continued to decay...