Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The release of radioactive substances was a problem that emerged since the early
1960s, in civilian but especially in military facilities: items of possible contami-
nation emerged in the case of US plants of Hanford, in Washington State, and
especially in the Kyshtym radiation release occurred in 1957 in the nuclear facilities
situated in Majak, near Chelyabinsk, in Soviet Union, considered the second most
serious nuclear accident in history. In both cases, however, for reasons of strategic
nature, investigations on possible effects on the environment and health of civilians
were allowed only many years later.
The extraordinary economic and industrial development that occurred after the
end of World War II led to a dramatic increase in industrial production and in
internal and international trades, but also signi
cantly increased the episodes of
technological accidents. The impressive rise of the carriage of dangerous goods by
rail, for instance, determined many incidents, some of them particularly serious.
The list of train accidents caused by the explosion of hazardous substances is
tragically long: among the most serious occurred during the second post-war years
in the United States there are: the Meldrim disaster of 1959, when the derailment of
a train load of butane caused 23 victims and the freight train
re in Rosedale,
California, of 1960 (14 deaths). Similar accidents also occurred in Europe. One of
the most impressive was the Langenweddingen rail crash of 1967, when near
Magdeburg, at that time in the East Germany, a local train and a truck that trans-
ported petrol collided in a level crossing
'
s barriers (94 victims).
In these years, the development of civil aviation multiplied the number of
ights
consequently rising the accidents. The air disasters occurred during this period were
generally determined by technical or structural failure, human error or clashes
(occurred during takeoff or landing) or adverse weather conditions. In response to
these disasters, in order to prevent further accidents the public and private airlines
companies and national and international authorities decided to increase safety
standards and controls on civil aviation.
The growth in commercial traf
c by sea of dangerous or potentially harmful
substances caused relevant accident such as that one that occurred, in April 1947, in
Texas City. The port was devastated by a terrible explosion caused by a
re on
French ship Grandcamp, carrying a cargo of ammonium nitrate (576 victims). This
kind of accidents also had a dramatic impact on the environment. Particularly
serious were those that involved ships carrying crude oil. Among the most serious
disasters were the sinking of the tanker Torrey Canyon, that carried more than
120,000 tons of oil, which occurred in 1967 off the coast of Cornwall and the
collision in 1970 that involved the Othello tanker off the coast of Sweden. In both
cases, the oil spilled from tankers caused serious environmental damages and
contaminated the coastlines. As for the incidents of passenger ships, even in
presence of far more serious naval disasters, the naval incident that dramatically
impressed the collective memory was the collision between the cruise ship Andrea
Doria and the Swedish steamer Stockholm occurred in 1956 off Nantucket (51
victims). This was because of the sinking of the luxury passenger ship Andrea
Doria reminded the disaster of the Titanic.
