Buzz
The discovery of atomic energy is a monumental achievement for humanity. Nuclear power is one of the cleanest and most efficient energy sources available, and radiation treatments enable us to combat diseases like cancer that we otherwise might not be able to treat.
However, it’s important not to be complacent when it comes to radiation. While you might be familiar with the disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima, you may think that if you’re far from a nuclear facility, there’s no need to worry about accidental exposure to radiation… but that’s not always the case.
Here are 10 radiation-related incidents you likely haven’t heard of. All of them occurred in the past three decades, and some might have even taken place close to where you live.
10. Therac-25 Machines, 1985–1987
The Therac-25 was a radiotherapy device developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) in 1985. Five units were shipped to the United States, while six were deployed in Canada. Between 1985 and 1987, these machines were involved in six incidents, resulting in three fatalities from radiation poisoning.
The Therac-25 operated by directing a beam of radiation at the area of the body affected by cancer. Several components were situated in the path of the beam. A critical part was the flattening filter, which spread the high-powered beam over a broader area, reducing its intensity.
In earlier models, the Therac-6 and Therac-20, AECL had used a hardware lock to prevent the beam from being fired before the filter was properly positioned. However, the Therac-25 relied on a software-based lock instead. This meant there was no physical barrier—just software designed to prevent errors. Unfortunately, a software bug existed: typing commands too quickly could freeze the software lock, allowing the beam to fire without the filter in place, delivering a full radiation dose directly to the patient.
Just how large was the radiation dose? In one incident in Marietta, Georgia, a patient who was supposed to receive around 200 rads ended up being exposed to an estimated 15,000–20,000 rads. To make things worse, the operators had become accustomed to frequent machine malfunctions that typically had no serious consequences for the patient. A report on the incident notes, “Therac-25 operators had become accustomed to frequent malfunctions that had no untoward consequences for the patient.” Furthermore, instead of displaying an alarm for the excessive dose, the machine's screen read “no dose.”
Patients described the radiation as feeling like “an intense electric shock” and “a burning force of heat…this red-hot sensation.” Since the unfiltered beam delivered potentially fatal doses, only three out of the six patients survived.
9. Kramatorsk, Ukraine, 1989
When thinking of places you would least want radioactive material to be found, “trapped in a concrete block directly above a child’s bed” should surely rank high. As unbelievable as it seems, this is exactly what happened to the residents of Building 7 on Gvardeytsiv Kantemirovtsiv Street in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, in 1989.
Between 1980 and 1989, two families lived in Apartment 85. In the first family, the mother and two children tragically passed away from leukemia. In the second family, the oldest son died, while another son became severely ill. Authorities only discovered the cause after the residents requested radiation testing of their building.
It was revealed that a cesium-137 capsule had become lodged in a concrete wall panel between two apartments. Cesium-137 is often used in radioisotope process monitoring equipment, and it appears that the source of the radiation slipped out of the device and became embedded in the raw materials that were later used to construct the wall. The exact mechanism of how this happened remains unexplained.
The report on the issue attempts to reassure readers by stating: “It should be noted that source accountancy and control measures have now been significantly improved in Ukraine.” It also mentions that raw materials are now thoroughly tested for radiation.
8. Kwale District, Kenya, 1999
In southeastern Kenya, the government opted to cut costs by using materials from nearby Mrima Hill to repair a dirt road. This method was far cheaper than hauling rocks from a quarry located 19 kilometers (12 miles) away. Sounds like an ideal way to save money, right? So, what went wrong?
Mrima Hill had been identified as dangerously radioactive eight years earlier, and reports were sent to the relevant government authorities. Geophysicist Jayanti Patel, the author of the study, recalls, “I personally sent copies to all the relevant ministries. Sedimentary rock from the hill should not be used for either home construction or roadwork.”
The hill, which in certain areas emits 50 times the radiation deemed safe by scientists, contains elements such as actinium, uranium, potassium-40, and most concerning to local health—thorium. Locals claim that mysterious deaths have been occurring for years and express ongoing worry about contamination from the nearby hill. They argue that the measures taken are merely a case of too little, too late.
The government was assigned the responsibility of monitoring the health of approximately 25,000 individuals who had been exposed to low levels of radiation. This included removing 2,795 tons of material used in road repairs and designating the toxic hill as a protected area. However, with the underdeveloped infrastructure in rural Kenya, it seems unlikely that residents have received the necessary medical attention, or that all the hazardous material was completely removed.
7. Northwestern Georgia, 2001
On Christmas Eve in 2001, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Emergency Response Center received an urgent call from Georgia. Three woodcutters had been wandering through the remote mountains near the Abkhazian border when they stumbled upon two unusually warm containers. Mistaking this as good fortune rather than something hazardous, they used the objects as “personal heaters” while they spent the night in the woods.
After about three hours of exposure, the woodcutters began experiencing symptoms like nausea, headaches, dizziness, and vomiting. They were hospitalized, and within a few days, they developed large burns on their skin. Despite the severity of their burns, some of which became infected, they all eventually recovered. Let’s hope they learned the importance of avoiding suspiciously warm abandoned items.
The IAEA team ventured into the woods and quickly located the source of the radiation—discarded Soviet radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which had been stripped of their protective shielding. Each RTG contained strontium-90. RTGs are devices that convert heat generated by radioactive isotopes into electricity, and they are typically used in satellites, space probes, and unmanned vehicles or facilities. The origin of these specific generators remains unknown.
RTGs are so dangerous that the IAEA’s disposal team for this incident consisted of 25 people, each exposed to just 40 seconds of radiation as they carefully moved the generators into secure, lead-lined containers.
6. Bialystok, Poland, 2001
On February 27, 2001, at the Bialystok Oncology Centre in Poland, a power outage occurred during a radiotherapy session for a breast cancer patient, causing the NEPTUN 10P machine to shut down. Once the power was restored and the machine inspected, the session resumed. Four additional patients, all undergoing post-surgical breast cancer treatment, were treated with the machine.
After the treatment, the patients began reporting symptoms such as itching and burning at the radiation site. The staff immediately paused the use of the NEPTUN 10P and conducted an inspection. Upon measuring the radiation output, it became clear that the machine was delivering much higher radiation doses than normal. Further investigation uncovered issues with the dose monitoring system and a malfunctioning electrical component of the safety mechanism.
The clinic followed the prescribed procedures when restarting the machine, as detailed in the manual, but dosimetry testing was not required after a power failure. A report indicated the following:
Power outages that caused machine shutdowns had occurred frequently in the past. The AC mains voltage in the hospital area was unstable, and occasionally, up to two outages happened in a day. The radiation technologist’s past experiences with power cuts suggested that the machine resumed normal operation after a restart without any alterations in beam parameters.
All five patients sustained severe injuries, necessitating surgery and skin grafts. Fortunately, none of the injuries were fatal. The attending physician was initially charged with criminal negligence, but the court determined she was not at fault. The hospital was subsequently fined for the incident.
5. Glasgow, 2006
Lisa Norris, a 15-year-old teenager from Scotland, was diagnosed with brain cancer and was prescribed a course of radiation therapy at the Beatson Oncology Center in Glasgow, Scotland.
At Beatson, the treatment planning system used was called Eclipse, which is part of a larger system known as Varis. In May 2005, the Varis system was updated to Varis 7, enabling some treatment plan data to be transferred electronically across different sections of the database. However, for more complicated treatment plans, the center still relied on paper forms.
The upgrade to the new system meant that when certain features were selected by the treatment planning team, they would adjust data in the treatment plan in relation to other records. This particular feature was applied in Lisa Norris’s case. However, the staff member who transferred the data from the digital plan to the paper form failed to notice the discrepancy, leading to an incorrect value being entered for one of the “critical treatment delivery parameters,” which was much higher than it should have been.
How much higher? From January 5 to January 31, Norris was exposed to radiation doses approximately 58 percent greater than what was prescribed. Her bare scalp became red and blistered, and her parents described an alarming experience when she tried to take a cold shower, noticing that the water evaporated from her skin, “as if you had put water in a hot pan, you could see it going to bubbles.”
Tragically, Lisa Norris passed away on October 18, 2006. An official investigation concluded that she succumbed to her tumor, not due to radiation overdoses.
4. Arcata, California, 2008
On January 23, 2008, Jacoby Roth’s parents took him to the ER at Mad River Hospital in Arcata, California, after he complained of neck pain from falling out of bed the previous night. Despite appearing to be fine, his doctors decided to conduct a CT scan to check his cervical spine. A standard CT scan typically lasts only a few minutes and takes about 25 images. Jacoby’s scan, however, continued for 61 minutes, involving 151 images, only halting when his parents raised concerns.
Surprisingly, it seems that the machine did not malfunction at all. (It was replaced soon after the incident, though this was already planned.) The machine was set to manual mode during Jacoby's scan, meaning the operator had to press the button to take each of the 151 images.
Raven Knickerbocker, the operator, had obtained her radiological technologist license in December 2000. She left Mad River Hospital two weeks after the incident, and her license was suspended on September 30, 2008. Her account of the event changed multiple times. She claimed various reasons for the extended scan, such as only pressing the button four to six times, being distracted by the parents, the scanning table malfunctioning, and the boy’s father leaning on the table. A state investigator concluded that, regardless of these factors, she should have stopped the test.
The Roth family filed a lawsuit against Knickerbocker and reached a settlement, though the details were kept confidential. The hospital was fined $25,000, but the fine was overturned on appeal, possibly because the incident was determined to be solely due to operator error. Jacoby Roth appears to be in good health, but tests on his blood reveal significant chromosomal damage, and one expert suggests that he will likely develop cataracts in the future.
3. Tepojaco, Mexico, 2013
On December 2, 2013, a white Volkswagen Worker truck carrying a cobalt-60 teletherapy source was hijacked at a gas station in Tepojaco, Mexico. The driver was forced out at gunpoint and tied up. The IAEA issued a statement that, “At the time the truck was stolen, the source was properly shielded. However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged.”
The truck was eventually located near the town of Hueypoxtla, approximately 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) from the place it had been stolen. Unsurprisingly, the protective casing around the radioactive cobalt-60 had been damaged, and the highly radioactive material had been removed, though it was later abandoned nearby. Officials warned that whoever had exposed themselves to the material would likely die from radiation exposure. They also cautioned that the thieves would need medical attention, and their distinctive symptoms would easily identify them. No further updates on the case were provided. It is presumed that the culprits were never apprehended.
2. Asos Belts, 2013
Radioactive material clearly has no business being used as building material or, even more bizarrely, as fashion accessories. But in January 2013, US Border Patrol agents made a shocking discovery: radioactive material in a shipment of studded belts produced by fashion retailer Asos. The metal studs on the belts contained radioactive substances.
In response, Asos recalled the belts, which had been sold in 14 different countries, and commissioned an internal investigation. The report unsettlingly concluded that “this incident is quite a common occurrence,” explaining that manufacturers in India and the Far East often use scrap metal in their products. Scavengers searching for scrap sometimes stumble upon “orphaned” radioactive sources, left behind by authorities instead of being properly disposed of. When such materials are melted together with other raw metals, the radioactive material becomes embedded in the new alloy.
The studded belts, which contained between 750 and 800 metal studs, could have posed a risk if worn for more than 500 hours, or 20 days of continuous wear. It was claimed that Haq International, an Indian company, supplied Asos with 641 of the radioactive belts, though Asos works with multiple suppliers, and Haq International disputes these allegations.
Asos stated that it had reached out to all customers who had purchased the affected belts, and the products were safely recalled without incident.
1. Rio de Janeiro, 2011
In October 2011, at The Venerable Hospital of the Third Order of St. Francis of Penance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a seven-year-old girl named Maria Eduarda was undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rare form of cancer predominantly found in children. She had been diagnosed in 2010 and had completed a round of chemotherapy, but her doctors soon recommended radiotherapy as part of her treatment plan.
Shortly after Maria began her radiation therapy, her parents became increasingly worried when they noticed burns appearing on her skin. They reported these concerns to her doctor, but their worries were dismissed, as such burns were often considered a normal side effect of radiation treatment.
The injuries to Maria’s head, including her scalp and ears, worsened. She began exhibiting signs of brain damage, such as trouble speaking and walking. Eventually, Maria was diagnosed with cutaneous radiation syndrome, a condition caused by radiation burns on her skin. The radiation had also started to affect her brain, leading to a diagnosis of frontal lobe necrosis. Tragically, Maria passed away in June 2012.
In Maria’s case, the issue was not with the radiotherapy machine, but rather an error in calculating the number of radiation sessions she needed. A processing mistake led to Maria receiving a full dose of radiation during each of her eight treatment sessions. As a result, the physician in charge, along with two technicians, were charged with manslaughter.
