Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 8.1
Comparison of
man caused fatalities of
different technical systems
with the results of WASH-
1400 for 100 nuclear power
plants in the USA [
1
,
9
]
8.2 Major Accidents in the Power Industry
The worst accident in the coal mining industry occurred 1931 in Fushun
(Manchuria, China) killing 3,000 persons. Explosions, e.g. during fertilizer produc-
tion in Oppau (Germany) killed 561 people in 1921 and 207 people in 1948. In the
oil industry, the worst accident with 3,000 casualties occurred in 1987 when an oil
tanker collided with a passenger ferry boat in the Philippines. In the natural gas
industry, the severest accidents were recorded in Ufa, now Azerbaijan, in 1989,
with 600 persons killed, and in Ixhuapetek, Mexico, with 500 casualties [
4
,
6
,
10
].
When it comes to large dams for hydroelectric plants, the record shows 459 peo-
ple killed in Fr
ยด
jus, France, in 1959. In Vajont, Italy, 1914 people were killed in
1967, and 2,500 people were killed at the Indian Machhu II dam in 1979.
The biggest accident in the chemical industry so far occurred in Bhopal, India,
killing 3,400-8,000 persons [
4
,
8
].
