According to the Cyprus Institute, the research has shown that catastrophic nuclear accidents, such as those at Chernobyl and Fukushima, are more likely to occur than previously assumed.
Based on the operating hours of all civil nuclear reactors and the number of nuclear meltdowns that have occurred the scientists have calculated that such events may occur once every 10 to 20 years, some 200 times more often than estimated in the past.
”In case of a new serious nuclear accident in Western Europe, around 28 million people on average would be affected by contamination, while in densely populated South Asia, the risk is even greater and it is estimated that radiation will infect about 34 million people, while in East Asia and the US this would be 14 to 21 million people, ” Head of the research team Professor Jos Lelieveld said.
Source: Cyprus-Mail
Published on May 27, 2012
