The Kramatorsk radiological accident was a radiation accident that happened in Kramatorsk,

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

, in eastern

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

from 1980 to 1989. A small capsule containing highly radioactive caesium-137 was found inside the concrete wall of an apartment building, with a surface gamma radiation exposure dose rate of 1800 R/year. The capsule was detected only after residents requested that the level of radiation in the apartment be measured by a health physicist. The capsule was originally part of a radiation level gauge and was lost in the Karansky quarry in the late 1970s. The search for the capsule was unsuccessful and ended after a week. The gravel from the quarry was used in construction. The caesium capsule ended up in the concrete panel of apartment 85 of building 7 on Marii Pryimachenko Street (at the time under the Soviet name Hvardiitsiv Kantemyrivtsiv), between apartments 85 and 52. Over nine years, two families lived in apartment 85. A child's bed was positioned right next to the wall containing the capsule. The apartment was fully occupied in 1980. A year later, an 18-year-old young woman living there suddenly died. In 1982, her 16-year-old brother died, followed by their mother. Despite all residents succumbing to

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, the flat did not garner much public attention. Doctors, unable to identify the root cause of the illness, attributed the diagnosis to poor heredity. A new family moved into the apartment, and their son also died of leukemia. His father initiated a thorough investigation, which led to the discovery of the vial in the wall in 1989. By the time the capsule was discovered, four residents of the building had died from it and 17 more had received varying doses of radiation. Part of the wall was removed and sent to the Institute for Nuclear Research, where the caesium capsule was removed, identified by serial number and disposed of.

References

1980s disasters in the Soviet Union 1980s disasters in Ukraine 1989 in Ukraine 1989 industrial disasters Environmental disasters in Ukraine Kramatorsk Radiation accidents and incidents Radioactively contaminated areas Caesium Industrial accidents and incidents in Ukraine {{disaster-stub

See also

References