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Radiotherapy Accident In Costa Rica
The radiotherapy accident in Costa Rica occurred with the Alcyon II radiotherapy unit at San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José, Costa Rica. It was related to a cobalt-60 source that was being used for radiotherapy in 1996. An accidental overexposure of radiotherapy patients treated during August and September 1996 was detected. During the calibration process done after the change of 60Co source on 22 August 1996, a mistake was made in calculating the dose rate, leading to severe overexposure of patients. The error of calibration was detected on 27 December 1997. In the course of the accident, 114 patients received an overdose of radiation and 13 died of radiation-related injuries. In 2001, the radiophysicist whose mistake caused the radiation overdoses was charged with 16 culpable homicides and sentenced to six years in prison. See also * Goiânia accident * 1962 Mexico City radiation accident * List of civilian radiation accidents * Radiotherapy accident in Zaragoza * X-ray * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teletherapy Capsule
External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is the most common form of radiotherapy (radiation therapy). The patient sits or lies on a couch and an external source of ionizing radiation is pointed at a particular part of the body. In contrast to brachytherapy (sealed source radiotherapy) and unsealed source radiotherapy, in which the radiation source is inside the body, external beam radiotherapy directs the radiation at the tumour from outside the body. Orthovoltage ("superficial") X-rays are used for treating skin cancer and superficial structures. Megavoltage X-rays are used to treat deep-seated tumours (e.g. bladder, bowel, prostate, lung, or brain), whereas megavoltage electron beams are typically used to treat superficial lesions extending to a depth of approximately 5 cm (increasing beam energy corresponds to greater penetration). X-rays and electron beams are by far the most widely used sources for external beam radiotherapy. A small number of centers operate experimental and pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiotherapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radiation therapy may be curative in a number of types of cancer if they are localized to one area of the body. It may also be used as part of adjuvant therapy, to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery to remove a primary malignant tumor (for example, early stages of breast cancer). Radiation therapy is synergistic with chemotherapy, and has been used before, during, and after chemotherapy in susceptible cancers. The subspecialty of oncology concerned with radiotherapy is called radiation oncology. A physician who practices in this subspecialty is a radiation oncologist. Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control cell growth. Ionizing radiation works by damaging the DNA of cancerous tissue l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San José, Costa Rica
San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San José is Costa Rica's seat of national government, focal point of political and economic activity, and major transportation hub. San José Canton's population was 288,054 in 2011, and San José's municipal land area is 44.2 square kilometers (17.2 square miles), with an estimated 333,980 residents in 2015. Together with several other cantons of the central valley, including Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, it forms the country's Greater Metropolitan Area, with an estimated population of over 2 million in 2017. The city is named in honor of Joseph of Nazareth. Founded in 1736 by order of Cabildo de León, the population of San José rose during the 18th century through the use of colonial planning. It has historically been a city of strat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cobalt-60
Cobalt-60 (60Co) is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.2713 years. It is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. Deliberate industrial production depends on neutron activation of bulk samples of the monoisotopic and mononuclidic cobalt isotope . (PDF also located aCanadian Nuclear FAQ Measurable quantities are also produced as a by-product of typical nuclear power plant operation and may be detected externally when leaks occur. In the latter case (in the absence of added cobalt) the incidentally produced is largely the result of multiple stages of neutron activation of iron isotopes in the reactor's steel structures via the creation of its precursor. The simplest case of the latter would result from the activation of . undergoes beta decay to the stable isotope nickel-60 (). The activated nickel nucleus emits two gamma rays with energies of 1.17 and 1.33 MeV, hence the overall equation of the nuclear reaction (activation and decay) is: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goiânia Accident
The Goiânia accident was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on September 13, 1987, in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, after a forgotten radiotherapy source was stolen from an abandoned hospital site in the city. It was subsequently handled by many people, resulting in four deaths. About 112,000 people were examined for radioactive contamination and 249 of them were found to have been contaminated. In the consequent cleanup operation, topsoil had to be removed from several sites, and several houses were demolished. All the objects from within those houses, including personal possessions, were seized and incinerated. ''Time'' magazine has identified the accident as one of the world's "worst nuclear disasters" and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called it "one of the world's worst radiological incidents". Description of the source The radiation source in the Goiânia accident was a small capsule containing about of highly radioactive caesium chlori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1962 Mexico City Radiation Accident
In March–August 1962, a radiation incident in Mexico City occurred when a ten-year-old boy took home an unprotected industrial radiography source. Four people died from overexposure to radiation from a 5- Ci cobalt-60 capsule, an industrial radiography orphaned source that was not contained in its proper shielding. For several days, the boy kept the capsule in his pocket, then placed it in the kitchen cabinet of his home in Mexico City. Having obtained the source on March 21, the boy died 38 days later on April 29. Subsequently, his mother died on July 10; his 2-year-old sister died on August 18, and his grandmother died on October 15 of that year. The boy's father also received a significant dose of radiation; however, he survived. Five other individuals also received significant overdoses of radiation. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Civilian Radiation Accidents
This article lists notable civilian accidents involving radioactive materials or involving ionizing radiation from artificial sources such as x-ray tubes and particle accelerators. Accidents related to nuclear power that involve fissile materials are listed at List of civilian nuclear accidents. Military accidents are listed at List of military nuclear accidents. Scope of this article In listing civilian radiation accidents, the following criteria have been followed: # There must be well-attested and substantial health damage, property damage or contamination. # The damage must be related directly to radioactive materials or ionizing radiation from a man-made source, not merely taking place at a facility where such are being used. # To qualify as "civilian", the operation/material must be principally for non-military purposes. # The event is not an event involving fissile material or a nuclear reactor. Before 1950s *Clarence Madison Dally (1865–1904) – No INES level – Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiotherapy Accident In Zaragoza
The 1990 Clinic of Zaragoza radiotherapy accident was a radiological accident that occurred from 10 to 20 December 1990, at the Clinic of Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain. In the accident, at least 27 patients were injured, and 11 of them died due to the overexposure, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). All of the injured were cancer patients receiving external beam radiotherapy. Chronology On 7 December 1990, a technician performed maintenance on an electron accelerator at the Clinic of Zaragoza. On 10 December, it returned to service after the repairs. Affected patients immediately suffered burns on the skin of the irradiated area, as well as inflammation of the internal organs and bone marrow. The first overexposed patient died on 16 February 1991, two months after irradiation. Fatalities increased until, on 25 December 1991, the last of a total of 25 patients died. The IAEA established that 11 of the deaths were due to the faulty maintenance. On 19 December, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
X-ray
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz ( to ) and energies in the range 145 eV to 124 keV. X-ray wavelengths are shorter than those of UV rays and typically longer than those of gamma rays. In many languages, X-radiation is referred to as Röntgen radiation, after the German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who discovered it on November 8, 1895. He named it ''X-radiation'' to signify an unknown type of radiation.Novelline, Robert (1997). ''Squire's Fundamentals of Radiology''. Harvard University Press. 5th edition. . Spellings of ''X-ray(s)'' in English include the variants ''x-ray(s)'', ''xray(s)'', and ''X ray(s)''. The most familiar use of X-rays is checking for fractures (broken bones), but X-rays are also used in other ways. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Safety
Nuclear safety is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention of accidents or mitigation of accident consequences, resulting in protection of workers, the public and the environment from undue radiation hazards". The IAEA defines nuclear security as "The prevention and detection of and response to, theft, sabotage, unauthorized access, illegal transfer or other malicious acts involving nuclear materials, other radioactive substances or their associated facilities". This covers nuclear power plants and all other nuclear facilities, the transportation of nuclear materials, and the use and storage of nuclear materials for medical, power, industry, and military uses. The nuclear power industry has improved the safety and performance of reactors, and has proposed new and safer reactor designs. However, a perfect safety cannot be guaranteed. Potential sources of problems include human errors and external eve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Whistleblowers
There have been a number of nuclear whistleblowers, often nuclear engineers, who have identified safety concerns about nuclear power and nuclear weapons production. List Other nuclear whistleblowers * Chuck Atkinson * Dale G. Bridenbaugh * Joe Carson * Larry Criscione * Mark Gillespie * Lars-Olov Höglund * Carl HocevarFalk, Jim (1982). ''Global Fission:The Battle Over Nuclear Power'', p. 95. * David Hoffman * Avon Hudson * Shafiqul Islam * Carl Patrickson * Richard H. Perkins * Robert Pollard * John P. Shannon * Don Ranft * Zhores Medvedev * Ronald A. Sorri * Grigoris Lambrakis See also * Nuclear accidents in the United States * Nuclear safety * Anti-nuclear movement in the United States References External links * Watching the Watchdogs* ttp://www.whistleblower.org/ Government Accountability Project Whistleblower protection Org.* National Whistleblowers Center - Nuclear Whistleblowers {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuclear whistleblowers *Nuclear, List Nuclear whistleblowers Nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1996 In Costa Rica
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on board; Eight people die in a blizzard on Mount Everest; Dolly the Sheep becomes the first mammal to have been cloned from an adult somatic cell; The Port Arthur Massacre occurs on Tasmania, and leads to major changes in Australia's gun laws; Macarena, sung by Los del Río and remixed by The Bayside Boys, becomes a major dance craze and cultural phenomenon; Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 crash-ditches off of the Comoros Islands after the plane was hijacked; the 1996 Summer Olympics are held in Atlanta, marking the Centennial (100th Anniversary) of the modern Olympic Games., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Centennial Olympic Park bombing rect 200 0 400 200 TWA FLight 800 rect 400 0 600 200 1996 Mount Everest disaster rect 0 200 300 400 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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