INES Levels
INES N/A
INES 0
INES 1
INES 2
INES 3
INES 4
INES 5
INES 6
INES 7

INES 3: Serious incident

Impact on People and Environment:
  • Exposure in excess of ten times the statutory annual limit for workers.
  • Non-lethal deterministic health effect (e.g., burns) from radiation.
Impact on Radiological Barriers and Control:
  • Exposure rates of more than 1 Sv/h in an operating area.
  • Severe contamination in an area not expected by design, with a low probability of ­significant public exposure.
Impact on Defence-in-Depth:
  • Near accident at a nuclear power plant with no safety provisions remaining.
  • Lost or stolen highly radioactive sealed source.
  • Misdelivered highly radioactive sealed source without adequate procedures in place to handle it.
▸ Legenda & explanation
date title location 
2003-04-10Incremented radioactivity of the heat carrier during refueling outage at a time of fuel cleaningHungaryPAKS-2
2002-03-08DETERIORATION OF REACTOR VESSEL HEADUnited States of AmericaDAVIS BESSE-1
2002-01-02High radiation levels measured on a package containing Iridium-192SwedenStudsvik Nuclear AB
2000-06-01Radiation Injury to RadiographerUnited States of AmericaChannahon
1999-02-20Radiological accident in industrial gammagraphy with Ir-192PeruPERU radiation source
1999-01-08Accidental overexposure to radiation from Co 60 sourceTurkeySCRAPYARD
1999-01-08Loss of radioactive Co60 source of 700 CiTurkeyIKITELLI
1997-09-29Worker irradiation from a Co-60 source after a gamma radiographyItalyTREVISO
1997-03-11Fire and Explosion at the Bituminization Demonstration Facility of the Reprocessing PlantJapanTOKAI REPROCESSING PLANT
1996-01-05A worker was injured by an overexposure of Iridium-192 lost source from a gamma radiographChinaJIHUA
1995-11-27RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION IN THE REACTOR BUILDINGUkraineCHERNOBYL-1
1995-11-21Two occupational workers were injured by exposure of electron acceleratorChinaTIANJIN
1993-03-31COMPLETE STATION BLACK OUT DUE TO FIRE IN TURBINE BUILDINGIndiaNARORA-1
1993-02-02UNIT SCRAM CAUSED BY GRID DISTURBANCES DUE TO TORNADORussian FederationKOLA-1
1993-02-02UNIT SCRAM CAUSED BY GRID DISTURBANCES DUE TO TORNADORussian FederationKOLA-2
1992-12-01COBALT-60 SOURCE LOSSChinaRADIATION FACILITY
1992-09-08PLUTONIUM NITRATE LEAK IN CELLUnited KingdomBNFL, Sellafield
1991-07-22BREACH OF UNIT LIMITING CONDITIONS FOR OPERATION WHILE PREPARING FOR RESTART AFTER MAINTENANCE DUE TO ECCS AND MSV UNAVAILABILITYRussian FederationSMOLENSK-2
1991-07-10RADIOACTIVE WATER SPILLAGE ON THE PLANT TERRITORY WHILE TRANSPORTING CASK WITH FUEL FRAGMENTS TO THE DRY RADWASTE REPOSITORYRussian FederationBILIBINO GEN
1991-05-12RELEASE OF ACTIVE LIQUID FROM STORAGE TANKSlovakiaBOHUNICE-1
1991-05-04PERSONNEL OVEREXPOSURE DURING PRECOMMISSIONING OPERATIONS INVOLVING HOT CELLLithuaniaIGNALINA-2
1991-04-10UNAVAILABILITY OF LOW POWER EMERGENCY PROTECTION (LPEP) DUE TO LOSS OF IONIZATION CHAMBER POWER SUPPLYUkraineCHERNOBYL-1
1991-02-26INOPERABILITY OF VALVES AT THE DISCHARGE SIDE OF HPSI PUMPS IN THREE TRAINS DUE TO FAILURE TO CONNECT POWER CABLESUkraineKHMELNITSKI-1