Goiânia accident

Partial section of a capsule typically used in radiation therapy:

1. Source container according to international standards (mostly lead)
2. bracket
3. Radiation source consisting of
4. a welded steel container
5. Steel lid
6. and an inner shield, usually made of a uranium or tungsten alloy, which supports the
7. Cylinders surrounded by radioactive material, often cobalt-60. The diameter of the inner cylinder is 30 mm.

The Goiânia accident occurred on September 13, 1987 in the Brazilian city ​​of Goiânia . When a disused clinic was broken into, a medical device for radiation therapy was stolen and the radioactive material contained in it was distributed among friends and acquaintances by the thieves. Hundreds of people were contaminated with radioactive substances , some of them severely , four people have been shown to have died within a few weeks and further deaths are linked to the accident. Parts of the city are still radioactive today. Due to its degree of contamination, the accident was classified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as the largest radiological accident worldwide to date and rated 5 (out of 7) on the International Rating Scale for Nuclear Events (INES). Similar cases were recorded in Mexico in 1962, in Algeria in 1978, and again in Mexico, in the city of Juarez, in 1983.

Course of events

theft

On September 13, 1987, the two garbage collectors Wagner Pereira and Roberto Alves broke into the ruins of the Instituto Goiâno de Radioterapia (IGR), a closed, private institute for radiation therapy , which had moved to other premises in 1985. There they broke open an armored door and used a wheelbarrow to steal parts of a disused radiation therapy device that had been purchased by the institute in 1977 and left behind. At the time of the theft, legal disputes were ongoing between the IGR and the new owners of the building, which had prohibited the removal of any equipment from the building. A security guard actually deployed was not on site at the time of the theft. The garbage collectors thought the metal was valuable and partially dismantled the radiation head in Alves' backyard. They damaged the capsule of the radiation source and suffered burns from gamma and beta rays . Since they were unable to further disassemble the device, they sold it to the scrap dealer Devair Alves Ferreira.

Release of the material

When dismantling the device, Ferreira opened the lead container with the highly radioactive cesium chloride , consisting of the cesium isotope ¹³⁷ Cs, so that it could escape from the device. The highly radioactive cesium chloride, glowing faintly blue in the dark due to the ionization of the surrounding air, fascinated the scrap dealer, which is why he took it home, cut it into pieces and passed it on to family members and friends. He wanted to make a bracelet for his wife from the bright blue material. Since cesium chloride has a strong resemblance to table salt ( sodium chloride ) and is very soluble in water, it easily adheres to body parts or clothing, which promoted its spread.

Spread of the contamination

On September 25, Ferreira sold the container to another scrap dealer. The contaminated metals ended up in different hands and some were reused. Part of the cesium chloride crystal ended up in the sewer system.

The scrap dealer's wife, Maria Gabriela Ferreira, first noticed the illness of many friends at the same time, but attributed it to a drink. Many of those affected first went to pharmacies, then to family doctors and finally went to hospitals. The doctors consulted considered the symptoms to be a novel disease.

Determination of radioactivity

On September 28, Maria Gabriela Ferreira suspected that the container could be the cause of the diseases. She got the container from the buyer and took it to a hospital. The doctor there correctly suspected radioactivity, took the container outside and placed it on a chair in the garden. Maria Gabriela Ferreira had transported the container (from which 90% of the radioactive substance had already escaped) in a plastic bag on the bus and did not open it in the hospital either, which saved many lives. The radiation dose in the bus was also not hazardous to health. According to the IAEA report, around 44 TBq leaked .

On September 29th, the specialist Walter Mendes Ferreira determined the contamination using a scintillation counter from the national atomic energy authority NUCLEBRAS . The official emergency program started from this point in time. However, the government was later accused of covering up the accident for a period and withholding alarming data from civilians. In the meantime, numerous people had already been exposed to high doses of radiation . Four people died as a result of this radiation, 28 suffered radiation-related skin burns.

Evacuation and decontamination

In the following days, contamination measurements were carried out on all residents and their surroundings. 112,800 people were examined, 249 were identified as contaminated. It turned out that the radioactive material had been carried over several residential areas, entire streets and squares were contaminated. The victims were taken to a stadium in the city where a makeshift tent camp was set up.

A total of 85 houses were contaminated, 41 of which had to be evacuated for safety reasons. Seven buildings were completely demolished for decontamination. In some of the gardens and public parks, the top layer of soil had to be removed. The decontamination work dragged on from October 1987 to January 1988.

consequences

Injuries and deaths

• 112,800 people were examined, 249 people were so severely contaminated that they had to spend a certain amount of time in quarantine, 49 were interned, 21 intensively, there were at least four deaths, around 500 people still suffered from the long-term effects in 2017.
• The niece of the scrap dealer (Leide Alves Ferreira, six years old) died on October 23. Ferreira's brother had cleaned the container, dust falling on the floor from which she later ate. She was buried in a lead coffin covered with cement. According to another account, she received the radioactive substance from her father, with which she rubbed herself and later ate without washing her hands.
• The scrap dealer's wife (Maria Gabriela Ferreira, radiation dose: 5.4 Gray ) also died on October 23.
• Two of the scrap dealer's assistants also died a few days later as a result of the radiation (4.5 and 5.3 Gray).
• The scrap dealer Ferreira received a radiation dose of 7.0 Gray, but survived. He made fun of the situation, asked for money for photographs and interviews, and attributed his survival to his heavy beer and schnapps consumption. He later married again. He died in 1994.
• The scrap dealer's brother painted a glowing blue cross on his shirt with the radioactive substance. He carried the contamination to his farm, where several animals died. He also died a few years later.
• One of the two garbage collectors who stole the radiation therapy device from the institute building had to have an arm amputated due to the radiation .

Damage to Goiânia

Despite the tremendous effort that went into decontamination, increased radiation dose values ​​are still measured in some of the streets and squares affected at the time. The accident therefore had serious economic consequences for the city and region of Goiânia:

• 85 contaminated houses, 41 of which were evacuated and seven demolished.
• All the contaminated houses were cleaned with special vacuum cleaners. Roofs, walls and ceilings were scraped off and repainted, two roofs had to be completely replaced.
• All of the contents of the demolished houses were examined for contamination and if contamination was confirmed (and of great personal value) cleaned and returned to reduce the psychological damage.
• 3500 m³ of radioactive waste was produced. This must be safely stored in 14 containers for 180 years (half-life of ¹³⁷ Cs: 30.17 years). For this purpose, the Parque Estadual Telma Ortegal was built in the municipality of Abadia de Goás, a suburb of Goiânia .

Legal consequences

The doctors who owned the abandoned institute were charged and convicted of negligent assault and murder, served their sentences in open prison and were pardoned in 1998.

See also

• Samut Prakan nuclear accident

Web links and sources

• Karen Naundorf: Everything is enlightened. In: DUMMY. Independent Society Magazine , No. 24 (Fall 2009), pp. 72–78.
• Spiegel Online : Deadly Stone (report)
• John May: The GREENPEACE Handbook of the Atomic Age. 1989 Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf., Munich, ISBN 3-426-04057-3 , p. 391 (slightly different illustration).
• Goiania accident 1987: seduced by the glimmer of death. on one day .
• Goiânia: Brazil's "meltdown" continues to have an impact Deutsche Welle reporton the 30th anniversary of 2017.

Individual evidence

1. ^ INES - The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. (PDF; 193 kB) International Atomic Energy Agency , August 1, 2008, p. 3 , accessed on February 12, 2020 (English). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Tödlicher Stein , Der Spiegel 42/1987 (October 12, 1987)
3. ^ Report of the IAEA . September 1988 (English, online [PDF; 6.7 MB ]).
4. ^ Nuclear disaster in Brazil. Seduced by the glimmer of death . In: Der Spiegel , September 28, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Deutsche Welle: Goiânia: Brazil's "meltdown" continues. September 13, 2017, accessed July 14, 2020 .