nuclear disaster
Atomic plant catastrophe
A nuclear disaster is a catastrophic failure at a nuclear facility—typically a power plant—resulting in the release of dangerous radioactive material.
The term covers meltdowns, explosions, and containment breaches: Chernobyl remains the worst nuclear disaster in history.
Nuclear disasters contaminate land for generations and can cause radiation sickness, cancer, and death.
The phrase also applies to accidents involving nuclear weapons or waste.
- human errorMistakes by people
- radioactive decayUnstable atoms releasing energy
- ChernobylSoviet nuclear disaster site
- safety protocolsRules ensuring harm prevention
- ticking time bombLooming inevitable disaster
Three Mile Island · ground zero · dead zone · control room · emergency drills · radiation sickness · half-life · chain reaction · critical mass · psychological trauma · gamma radiation · isotopes · equipment failure · biodiversity loss · contaminated water · genetic mutations · sabotage · design flaws
- Ukraine HistoryCossacks, Holodomor, Chernobyl, Orange Revolution, Cossack Hetmanate
- disastersearthquake, earthquakes, catastrophe, floods, calamity
- Disaster Films2012, Armageddon, Deep Impact, The Day After Tomorrow, The Towering Inferno
- ChernobylPripyat, exclusion zone, meltdown, explosion, sarcophagus
- displacementdislocation, dislodging, relocation, displacing, uprooting
- Heisei Japanbubble burst, deflation, economic stagnation, Fukushima, Shinzo Abe
nuclear, disaster, nucleus, nuclei, nucleic, nucleotide, nucleolus, nucleate, denuclearize