This was a temporary solution, and it was eventually replaced by the New Safe Confinement structure, construction of which was completed in July 2019. A concrete shelter was rapidly built over the damaged reactor to stop further releases of radioactive material. Since the accident there has been a continuous clean-up of the site and the neighbouring areas. Follow-up studies have firmly concluded that the accident has not caused an increase in birth defects or hereditary effects, and no measurable increase in solid cancers beyond thyroid cancer has been detected. There were also about 5000 thyroid cancer cases (of which 15 have proven fatal so far), many of which could have been avoided by preventing the consumption of contaminated foodstuffs, such as milk. Two workers died due to the explosions, as well as 28 emergency personnel and plant workers from acute radiation syndrome (ARS commonly known as ‘radiation sickness’). Several factors, including reactor design issues and a poor safety culture, led to a failed safety test that caused two explosions, a fire that lasted for over a week, and the release of a large amount of radioactive material. It is the only nuclear accident in the history of commercial nuclear power to have caused fatalities from radiation. The most serious nuclear accident took place on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union). Further information can be found on the information page regarding radiation and health effects. The main impacts of nuclear accidents were not caused by radiation exposure, but instead were due to psychological and socio-economic factors resulting from misconceptions and fears about radiation – and so could have been largely avoided. It has been concluded in studies conducted by, for example the World Health Organisation, that the radiation health effects of nuclear accidents have been very small. The hydro accident with the highest death toll was the collapse of the Banqiao Dam in China’s Henan province in 1975, which resulted in 171,000 direct and indirect fatalities according to official estimates. In terms of the number of deaths from accidents, hydroelectric power is the deadliest method of generating electricity. Air pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels, including in power plants, causes 8.7 million deaths every year, making fossil fuels the deadliest energy source overall. In the history of civil nuclear energy, there have only been two major accidents where a large amount of radioactive material was emitted: at Chernobyl (1986), which has resulted in 46 deaths so far, and at Fukushima Daiichi (2011), which resulted in no casualties. The provision of reliable electricity brings huge benefits to society, but its production, like any other industrial activity, is not without risk. Nuclear is the safest energy source we use anywhere in the world. There have only been two major accidents at nuclear power plants, and their impacts have been far less severe than widely feared. What are the effects of nuclear accidents?
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