nuclear-news

In the majority of nuclear and radiological emergencies there will be enough information to know the location of a potential release of radioactivity, but with space activities the exact location of impact cannot always be predicted. “The IAEA has developed arrangements to share information about any pending nuclear-powered satellite re-entry. Using the data, countries can quickly respond to protect the public and the environment from the radioactivity that might spread as a result of an accident,” said Frederic Stephani, Incident and Emergency Assessment Officer in the IAEA, during the webinar.

COSMOS 954 eventually crashed in the Northwest Territories in Canada on 24 January 1978, scattering radioactive debris over a 600 km footprint and spreading radioactivity over 100 000 km2. The clean-up operation, called “Operation Morning Light,” jointly coordinated by Canada and the US, recovered 80 radioactive items……

accidents can occur during the launch, operation and end-of-service mission phases of space nuclear power source applications. These accidents could expose the nuclear power source to extreme physical conditions leading to a radioactive release into the Earth’s atmosphere. ….  https://www.miragenews.com/ensuring-safety-on-earth-from-nuclear-sources-in-space/