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Archive 1 |
Not that the facts listed here disagree with those at List of nuclear accidents. -- Andrew 20:41, May 5, 2004 (UTC)
That's what I was referring to; it might be worth putting something in the article to indicate that estimates differ. As you say, it's alarming whatever way you look at it. Do you know what was done to the sites? (The house whose floor got covered in dust, for example) Are they abandoned, with warning signs? Were they cleaned up? Are they in use without cleanup? I sort of fear the last, since they're inhabited by dirt-poor people. For the purposes of studying radiological weapons it'd be good to know too. -- Andrew 01:30, May 6, 2004 (UTC)
After reading this source, I suspect that this article might be better named 'Goiânia Radiation Incident' with a redirect from 'Goiânia accident'. That is, unless it is universally known as the 'Goiânia accident'. -- Solipsist 15:30, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
The Cs-137 source that was opened and caused the contamination was not radioactive waste. It was a sealed source in an irradiator that was illegally abandoned in the hospital. All sealed sources like this are required to be under control and inventoried and reported if missing. All these controls failed in this case, but the source was not in fact radioactive waste. -- User:24.151.184.155 05:12, 13 September 2005
I saw a documentary about an incident in which radioactive rods from a dumped Mexican X-ray machine came loose, which was only discovered when a lost lorry driver ended up triggering a radiation alarm at Los Alamos. Was this the same incident, and if so, should there be mention of the lorry driver? smurrayinchester( User), ( Talk) 11:02, 14 November 2005 (UTC)
I think that the edit to change a cat. to Waste disposal incidents was in part right and in part wrong. I think it was right becuase the accident involved an object which had become waste by virtue of the fact that it was abandoned so it counts as a Waste disposal incident. But it is also about the recycle process as a group of scrap metal workers tried to return the metal into use through their scarp metal yard. I have added a discussion of radioactivity in scrap metal (which I think is best placed in this article) which includes some other examples of related events. Overall I think that the article should stay in both "cats". Cadmium 12:31, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
This was an incident not an accident. Immaterial to most I guess. -- Wetman 07:57, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
That part of the article mentions related events, including one in Mexico, but gives neither introduction nor link? MadMaxDog 14:36, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
The information on scrap metal contamination and dose vs. time health hazards looks excellent (especially the charts), but does it really belong in this article? This would seem to apply equally to many other accident entries, especially the metals section. 142.161.176.232 06:00, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
The comparison table states that a smoke detector contains 37 KBq, and the device when stolen contained 50,900,000 KBq. 50,900,000 KBq == 50.9 GBq, not 50.9 TBq as stated in the article text. I believe that the first three rows of the table require an additional three zeros. Agree? --Jered 204.246.225.2 18:57, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
I'd moved the list of movies, songs, etc into the leaf article Goiânia accident in popular culture. This became common practice (see e.g. Gorilla or Tachyon) to keep the main article better focused (and smaller, in this case). Pavel Vozenilek 21:16, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
Mfgreen 00:20, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
Hi I know that this is not the space for this kind of question, but I hope I can clear it before trying any editing. I'm confused about an aspect on the article. Why the Junkyard workers died, if their radiation doses where only 4.5 and 5.3 Gy? Devair Alves Ferreira got 7.0 Gy,and Maria Gabriela Ferreira got 5.7 Gy. None of them died. Thank you larotta 21:28, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
cool this helped me on my debate!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.211.92.161 ( talk) 22:38, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
The article only says the radiation was 817 TBq, without comparing it to anything. This don't make any sense to most people, who have no idea about how much 1 Bq is.
Can someone convert the microcuries into TBqs? We are mxing SI and "standard" units here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wachholder0 ( talk • contribs) 11:00, 5 August 2006 (UTC)
The article mixes Greys (a unit of absorbed dose) and Sieverts (a unit of equivalent dose). In the context of a gamma or beta emitter, these units mean the same thing, but most people reading the article won't know that. I think this should be corrected or at least noted somewhere. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.211.202.84 ( talk) 06:18, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
I have been bold and reorganized much information. The data on contaminated scrap metal, that Cadmium duplicated in a more specialized article has been removed from this article. Also, the data on cell reaction to fractionated doses of radiation (rather than one long exposure) has been split off into a stub. All the information is still available, but it is not in the way of those who do not want all the technical details.
I think the Categories need to be examined, now. Some of those probably applied mainly to the info that has been split off, and should be removed from this article. Would anyone care to take that on, and then include the "split off" articles in the appropriate categories? Thanks! Mdotley 18:52, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
The source's animation seems broken. I see something rotating inside a circle but it looks crappy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.50.43.90 ( talk) 07:54, 10 September 2008 (UTC)
Does anyone know why the hospital was abandoned? Drutt ( talk) 15:27, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
The article refers to a Maria Ferreira in several places. Is this the same person as Gabriela Maria Ferreira. If so can that be made clear. This use of middle names as given name may be common in Brazil, but it’s not English standard. Also, who are Leide das Neves Ferreira and Ivo Alves Ferreira? The article says that latter is the father of the former, and then only describes the former as the daughter of the latter. It doesn’t actually tell us anything about who they are. I assume they are relatives of Devair Ferreira. 138.77.2.133 ( talk) 04:12, 23 March 2010 (UTC)
The section "Legal matters" says that "[...] the three doctors who had owned and run IGR were charged with criminal negligence" and later that "[...] the court could not declare the owners of IGR liable". This is not true (maybe it's confusing the civil charges with the criminal negligence charges?). The truth is that the doctors (and one physicist specialist in medicine) were convicted and sentenced to three years and two months of jail.
I found a few online sources using Google, the best ones seem to be:
Reflections on Liability and Radiological or Nuclear Accidents: The Accidents at Goiania, Forbach, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, by M-C. Boehler [2] (pages 15-16 of the PDF)
Sentença na ação civil pública no caso do acidente radioativo com césio 137 em Goiânia, by Juliano Taveira Bernardes [3]
Also, the web pages for sources 6 and 7 (referenced in the section Events, subsection Hospital abandonment) don't exist anymore, and I couldn't find any other sources that claim that the owners of IGR warned anyone about the danger of the abandoned equipment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.233.48.22 ( talk) 02:15, 23 April 2011 (UTC)
I've been wondering this for a while, and can't find it in the article - what happened to the two thieves who stole the radiotherapy device? Were they ever persecuted for their part in the disaster? Are they even still alive? Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.57.185.218 ( talk) 19:18, 16 September 2012 (UTC)
Thank you for referring to them as thieves, because they were. I think many attempts have been made by a wikipedia contributor or contributors to whitewash the events by calling those ultimately responsible as "scavengers" which then paints them as victims. "Oh, I wasn't stealing your car, I was scavenging it." "Oh, I'm not a murderer, I'm a ghost creator." There was even supposed to be a guard to protect the property from "scavenging." They took things that did not belong to them. That is theft. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.26.57 ( talk) 22:16, 3 November 2012 (UTC)
That's fine and all, but I think the article should have something about the thieves' fate, as I cannot find anything mentioning if they were criminally charged, or died in the hospital, or were let off with a warning, etc. etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.168.226.134 ( talk) 03:31, 24 February 2013 (UTC)
I don't like the way some of the things are worded here, mainly that the article tends to demonize the doctors/owners of the hospital when they were not allowed to remove the radiation source and even went as far as to report it to various agencies and governmental officials. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.42.21.232 ( talk) 07:08, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
I agree with you, why were the doctors charged? The ones that constantly warned them about the radioactive material but they weren't allowed to remove it... — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
70.54.140.226 (
talk)
21:56, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
"On September 13, 1987, the guard in charge of daytime security, Voudireinão da Silva, did not show up to work, using a sick day to attend a cinema screening of Herbie Goes Bananas with his family." - Because of this, 4 people died. 203.9.151.254 ( talk) 22:45, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
I was attempting to find more information about the design and construction of the source holder described in this article, and guess what: when you filter out the search results for Brazil and for Goiânia all you get is web pages that mention iridium window tinting for sunglasses and car windows. There is not a patent anywhere, there is not a book nor academic article describing one, in short outside of this single nuclear incident, "iridium windows" as a device for directing radiation appear to be nonexistent. Really, they just don't exist.
How is this possible? How can something that, in terms of this article, seems like it should be a standard component of a teletherapy device, not exist outside of this one device in Brazil? How can no one have a patent on one? Even in the Wikipedia article on iridium, its only use in conjunction with anything medical is as a source itself of gamma radiation when used for brachytherapy, and not a word anywhere about its use as any kind of "window" for any other radiation source in any other kind of therapy.
I have reviewed in detail the original patent for the international standard source holder used in teletherapy. Here is the source: http://www.patsnap.com/patents/view/US3588031.html. If you look at the patent drawings, you can see that there is no "iridium window" illustrated or mentioned anywhere; neither does any subsequent patent ever filed in the United States or elsewhere ever mention such a window in conjunction with this device or any radiation therapy device.
What I am saying is, I don't know how this is possible. I challenge anyone to demonstrate otherwise, but as far as I can tell, "iridium windows" simply do not exist, anywhere. Period. That one is still mentioned so many times in the course of a nuclear accident like this one just makes no sense. KDS4444 Talk 11:39, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
This is a rather trivial issue, but I feel that "Cesium" is the more commonly used spelling. Both are correct, but perhaps the article should reflect this?
Shouldn't the measurements be in sievert(Sv) rather than gray(Gy)? I believe that sieverts is used for radiation absorbed by biological tissue and gray being independent of material. Unless the sources use gray I believe that you only need to replace the instances of Gy and gray with Sv and sieverts when talking about radiation absorbed by people and other animals. DukeTwicep ( talk) 16:45, 26 January 2013 (UTC)
The section "The source is partially broken" says: "... it was thought to be either fluorescence or Cherenkov radiation associated with the absorption of moisture by the source," Is that so? Is there a source for this claim? Actually, I am pretty sure by now that it was Cherenkov radiation, but I cannot see why any moisture should be neccessary. All that is required for Cherenkov radiation to appear is a transparent medium with a refractive index >1 passed by highly energetic charged particles, like the beta particles from 137Cs in CsCl. On the case of fluorescence, one would need to explain which material shows the fluorescence. The CsCl itself? The moisture? The air? Best, Naclador ( talk) 08:28, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
In regards to the blue glow being attributed to Cherenkov radiation, why would the daughter have 'been fascinated by the glow, applying the powder to her body' as soon as the power was removed from the capsule we would no longer have the transparent medium required for Cherenkov radiation to appear it should have only been non-glowing grey dust. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
64.132.140.162 (
talk)
11:04, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
This is wrong. The CsCl itself is the transparent refractive medium, neither moisture nor glass is neccessary. Naclador ( talk) 13:29, 5 June 2014 (UTC)
The article contains a claim, "[They] found the teletherapy unit ... and placed it in a wheelbarrow, taking it to Alves's home." In a wheelbarrow? Does anyone have any idea how much these things weigh? Whether the reference given made this claim is unknown as it is now a broken link. The sheer mass of lead that is in the head of any radiotherapy unit means that they weigh several tens of tonnes. This would not only crush your average wheelbarrow, but you would need a fairly substantial piece of handling equipment to get it in the wheelbarrow in the first place. This reference states that "he got some friends to help him haul it into his back yard". [1] It doesn't say how many friends but "haul it into his back yard" doesn't sound like "wheeled it in a wheelbarrow" which would only reqiure one person.
When I worked for a hospital, whenever a new radiotherapy unit was installed, the floor on which it was installed always had to be reinforced to accept the weight. When an old unit was donated to the London Science Museum (presumably with the source removed), the museum decided to remodel the head of the unit as a fibreglass replica otherwise it would have fallen straight through the floor where it was due to be displayed (and the accompanying museum label actually states this). DieSwartzPunkt ( talk) 16:34, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
"R.A. had heard rumours that valuable equipment had been left in
1987 the disused clinic of the IGR (Location A). R.A. and a friend, W.P.,
went to the site of the disused clinic and tried to dismantle the tele-
therapy unit with simple tools. R.A. and W.P. finally succeeded in
removing the rotating assembly. The shiny stainless steel casing
appeared valuable to them and they took it in a wheelbarrow to R.A.'s
house (Location B), half a kilometre from the clinic."
References
I tagged the article for tone and trimmed some of the trivia/unnecessary details. Wikipedia is no an indiscriminate collection of information and the page looks more like a police report (where all information must kept in case it is needed later) than an encyclopedic summary-style entry; my edits barely scratched the surface. Tigraan ( talk) 12:42, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
This incident (or a similar one) seems to have inspired an episode of the cartoon 'Captain Planet' [ [4]]. Googling gives me this result. [ [5]]. What kind of references are required before making an addition to the article? Cplusplusboy ( talk) 13:32, 17 August 2015 (UTC)
Appears to me unnecessarily and intentionally depreciative and offensive with the Brazilian-allusion to the banana republic nationality - placed at the mention of the "detail" that contributes nothing to the description of the accident except to - you disrespectful jokingly as ignorance of the workers and junk picker at the South American people made the following reference: "Voudireinão da Silva, did not show up to work, using a sick day to attend the film screening of" Herbie Goes Bananas " with his family — Preceding unsigned comment added by Solon36 ( talk • contribs) 19:09, 26 December 2013 (UTC)
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Goiânia accident. Please take a moment to review
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Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 12:01, 7 January 2016 (UTC)
I'm sorry about my English, so i am not going to change anything in the main text; but i have something interesting about this incident (or accident), maybe someone can change the text:
The accident was in 1985 not 1987!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.145.114.36 ( talk) 05:26, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
This article is supported well by a variety of sources. Although sources like the Washington Post may have a left-leaning bias, the government sources add credibility to the article. As for the content of the article, it appears to stick to the facts and have a neutral bias overall, although some sections could use some more elaboration. XXESPM163Xx ( talk) 06:01, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
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The liability is not clear to me. If I read it correctly, the IGR was restrained by the court from removing anything from the clinic, yet they were charged with criminal negligence in the matter? How can that be? MartinezMD ( talk) 17:44, 18 November 2018 (UTC)
coming from the German article (plus quick googling) only seven houses were demolished - although a lot more underwent refurbishing / scraping of walls + repainting. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dwayne Felixondo ( talk • contribs) 11:44, 26 May 2020 (UTC)
> While the serial number of the device was unknown, thus hindering definitive identification, the device was thought to have been made in the U.S. at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was used as a radiation source for radiation therapy at the Goiânia hospital.[1]
This is a bit confusing, as it implies that "the device" (presumably the radiological unit) was manufactured in the U.S.A., however, according to the cited source, it seems that the unit was "designed by Barazetti and Company of Milan, Italy" and "marketed by Generay SpA." This suggests that it was also likely manufactured in Italy (though the document is unclear, as it only says "designed," which can mean different things).
The same article does confirm, however, that the radioactive source (not the rest of the unit) "is thought to have been produced at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) facility in the United States of America in about 1970."
So, to say that "the device" was manufactured at Oak Ridge seems confusing and mostly misleading. Given the IAEA document, I think it is reasonable to say that the teletherapy unit was designed by Barazetti and Company of Milan, Italy, with the source thought to have been made in the U.S. at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. – Hypertext ( talk) 04:01, 20 August 2020 (UTC)
Hi. Although only 4 deaths were reported to be directly related to the source & it's contamination of the immediate area & individuals there is no doubt other deaths were somewhat indirectly attributable to the source, albeit difficult to determine. I was thinking would it be prudent to clarify, by way of bracketed text, to show the 4 deaths as "(direct)"? Thanks for your consideration. Regards, Michael 120.16.71.100 ( talk) 17:16, 4 December 2022 (UTC)
Is there any better way to refer to the wife of the junkyard owner, other than 'the wife'? Is her name known, or is that confidencial? -- Solipsist 15:45, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
I've edited the article introduction to reflect the subsequent reference to "the theft" because there was no reference to it having been stolen, just "taken". Matuko ( talk)2
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 |
Not that the facts listed here disagree with those at List of nuclear accidents. -- Andrew 20:41, May 5, 2004 (UTC)
That's what I was referring to; it might be worth putting something in the article to indicate that estimates differ. As you say, it's alarming whatever way you look at it. Do you know what was done to the sites? (The house whose floor got covered in dust, for example) Are they abandoned, with warning signs? Were they cleaned up? Are they in use without cleanup? I sort of fear the last, since they're inhabited by dirt-poor people. For the purposes of studying radiological weapons it'd be good to know too. -- Andrew 01:30, May 6, 2004 (UTC)
After reading this source, I suspect that this article might be better named 'Goiânia Radiation Incident' with a redirect from 'Goiânia accident'. That is, unless it is universally known as the 'Goiânia accident'. -- Solipsist 15:30, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
The Cs-137 source that was opened and caused the contamination was not radioactive waste. It was a sealed source in an irradiator that was illegally abandoned in the hospital. All sealed sources like this are required to be under control and inventoried and reported if missing. All these controls failed in this case, but the source was not in fact radioactive waste. -- User:24.151.184.155 05:12, 13 September 2005
I saw a documentary about an incident in which radioactive rods from a dumped Mexican X-ray machine came loose, which was only discovered when a lost lorry driver ended up triggering a radiation alarm at Los Alamos. Was this the same incident, and if so, should there be mention of the lorry driver? smurrayinchester( User), ( Talk) 11:02, 14 November 2005 (UTC)
I think that the edit to change a cat. to Waste disposal incidents was in part right and in part wrong. I think it was right becuase the accident involved an object which had become waste by virtue of the fact that it was abandoned so it counts as a Waste disposal incident. But it is also about the recycle process as a group of scrap metal workers tried to return the metal into use through their scarp metal yard. I have added a discussion of radioactivity in scrap metal (which I think is best placed in this article) which includes some other examples of related events. Overall I think that the article should stay in both "cats". Cadmium 12:31, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
This was an incident not an accident. Immaterial to most I guess. -- Wetman 07:57, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
That part of the article mentions related events, including one in Mexico, but gives neither introduction nor link? MadMaxDog 14:36, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
The information on scrap metal contamination and dose vs. time health hazards looks excellent (especially the charts), but does it really belong in this article? This would seem to apply equally to many other accident entries, especially the metals section. 142.161.176.232 06:00, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
The comparison table states that a smoke detector contains 37 KBq, and the device when stolen contained 50,900,000 KBq. 50,900,000 KBq == 50.9 GBq, not 50.9 TBq as stated in the article text. I believe that the first three rows of the table require an additional three zeros. Agree? --Jered 204.246.225.2 18:57, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
I'd moved the list of movies, songs, etc into the leaf article Goiânia accident in popular culture. This became common practice (see e.g. Gorilla or Tachyon) to keep the main article better focused (and smaller, in this case). Pavel Vozenilek 21:16, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
Mfgreen 00:20, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
Hi I know that this is not the space for this kind of question, but I hope I can clear it before trying any editing. I'm confused about an aspect on the article. Why the Junkyard workers died, if their radiation doses where only 4.5 and 5.3 Gy? Devair Alves Ferreira got 7.0 Gy,and Maria Gabriela Ferreira got 5.7 Gy. None of them died. Thank you larotta 21:28, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
cool this helped me on my debate!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.211.92.161 ( talk) 22:38, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
The article only says the radiation was 817 TBq, without comparing it to anything. This don't make any sense to most people, who have no idea about how much 1 Bq is.
Can someone convert the microcuries into TBqs? We are mxing SI and "standard" units here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wachholder0 ( talk • contribs) 11:00, 5 August 2006 (UTC)
The article mixes Greys (a unit of absorbed dose) and Sieverts (a unit of equivalent dose). In the context of a gamma or beta emitter, these units mean the same thing, but most people reading the article won't know that. I think this should be corrected or at least noted somewhere. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.211.202.84 ( talk) 06:18, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
I have been bold and reorganized much information. The data on contaminated scrap metal, that Cadmium duplicated in a more specialized article has been removed from this article. Also, the data on cell reaction to fractionated doses of radiation (rather than one long exposure) has been split off into a stub. All the information is still available, but it is not in the way of those who do not want all the technical details.
I think the Categories need to be examined, now. Some of those probably applied mainly to the info that has been split off, and should be removed from this article. Would anyone care to take that on, and then include the "split off" articles in the appropriate categories? Thanks! Mdotley 18:52, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
The source's animation seems broken. I see something rotating inside a circle but it looks crappy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.50.43.90 ( talk) 07:54, 10 September 2008 (UTC)
Does anyone know why the hospital was abandoned? Drutt ( talk) 15:27, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
The article refers to a Maria Ferreira in several places. Is this the same person as Gabriela Maria Ferreira. If so can that be made clear. This use of middle names as given name may be common in Brazil, but it’s not English standard. Also, who are Leide das Neves Ferreira and Ivo Alves Ferreira? The article says that latter is the father of the former, and then only describes the former as the daughter of the latter. It doesn’t actually tell us anything about who they are. I assume they are relatives of Devair Ferreira. 138.77.2.133 ( talk) 04:12, 23 March 2010 (UTC)
The section "Legal matters" says that "[...] the three doctors who had owned and run IGR were charged with criminal negligence" and later that "[...] the court could not declare the owners of IGR liable". This is not true (maybe it's confusing the civil charges with the criminal negligence charges?). The truth is that the doctors (and one physicist specialist in medicine) were convicted and sentenced to three years and two months of jail.
I found a few online sources using Google, the best ones seem to be:
Reflections on Liability and Radiological or Nuclear Accidents: The Accidents at Goiania, Forbach, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, by M-C. Boehler [2] (pages 15-16 of the PDF)
Sentença na ação civil pública no caso do acidente radioativo com césio 137 em Goiânia, by Juliano Taveira Bernardes [3]
Also, the web pages for sources 6 and 7 (referenced in the section Events, subsection Hospital abandonment) don't exist anymore, and I couldn't find any other sources that claim that the owners of IGR warned anyone about the danger of the abandoned equipment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.233.48.22 ( talk) 02:15, 23 April 2011 (UTC)
I've been wondering this for a while, and can't find it in the article - what happened to the two thieves who stole the radiotherapy device? Were they ever persecuted for their part in the disaster? Are they even still alive? Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.57.185.218 ( talk) 19:18, 16 September 2012 (UTC)
Thank you for referring to them as thieves, because they were. I think many attempts have been made by a wikipedia contributor or contributors to whitewash the events by calling those ultimately responsible as "scavengers" which then paints them as victims. "Oh, I wasn't stealing your car, I was scavenging it." "Oh, I'm not a murderer, I'm a ghost creator." There was even supposed to be a guard to protect the property from "scavenging." They took things that did not belong to them. That is theft. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.26.57 ( talk) 22:16, 3 November 2012 (UTC)
That's fine and all, but I think the article should have something about the thieves' fate, as I cannot find anything mentioning if they were criminally charged, or died in the hospital, or were let off with a warning, etc. etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.168.226.134 ( talk) 03:31, 24 February 2013 (UTC)
I don't like the way some of the things are worded here, mainly that the article tends to demonize the doctors/owners of the hospital when they were not allowed to remove the radiation source and even went as far as to report it to various agencies and governmental officials. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.42.21.232 ( talk) 07:08, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
I agree with you, why were the doctors charged? The ones that constantly warned them about the radioactive material but they weren't allowed to remove it... — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
70.54.140.226 (
talk)
21:56, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
"On September 13, 1987, the guard in charge of daytime security, Voudireinão da Silva, did not show up to work, using a sick day to attend a cinema screening of Herbie Goes Bananas with his family." - Because of this, 4 people died. 203.9.151.254 ( talk) 22:45, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
I was attempting to find more information about the design and construction of the source holder described in this article, and guess what: when you filter out the search results for Brazil and for Goiânia all you get is web pages that mention iridium window tinting for sunglasses and car windows. There is not a patent anywhere, there is not a book nor academic article describing one, in short outside of this single nuclear incident, "iridium windows" as a device for directing radiation appear to be nonexistent. Really, they just don't exist.
How is this possible? How can something that, in terms of this article, seems like it should be a standard component of a teletherapy device, not exist outside of this one device in Brazil? How can no one have a patent on one? Even in the Wikipedia article on iridium, its only use in conjunction with anything medical is as a source itself of gamma radiation when used for brachytherapy, and not a word anywhere about its use as any kind of "window" for any other radiation source in any other kind of therapy.
I have reviewed in detail the original patent for the international standard source holder used in teletherapy. Here is the source: http://www.patsnap.com/patents/view/US3588031.html. If you look at the patent drawings, you can see that there is no "iridium window" illustrated or mentioned anywhere; neither does any subsequent patent ever filed in the United States or elsewhere ever mention such a window in conjunction with this device or any radiation therapy device.
What I am saying is, I don't know how this is possible. I challenge anyone to demonstrate otherwise, but as far as I can tell, "iridium windows" simply do not exist, anywhere. Period. That one is still mentioned so many times in the course of a nuclear accident like this one just makes no sense. KDS4444 Talk 11:39, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
This is a rather trivial issue, but I feel that "Cesium" is the more commonly used spelling. Both are correct, but perhaps the article should reflect this?
Shouldn't the measurements be in sievert(Sv) rather than gray(Gy)? I believe that sieverts is used for radiation absorbed by biological tissue and gray being independent of material. Unless the sources use gray I believe that you only need to replace the instances of Gy and gray with Sv and sieverts when talking about radiation absorbed by people and other animals. DukeTwicep ( talk) 16:45, 26 January 2013 (UTC)
The section "The source is partially broken" says: "... it was thought to be either fluorescence or Cherenkov radiation associated with the absorption of moisture by the source," Is that so? Is there a source for this claim? Actually, I am pretty sure by now that it was Cherenkov radiation, but I cannot see why any moisture should be neccessary. All that is required for Cherenkov radiation to appear is a transparent medium with a refractive index >1 passed by highly energetic charged particles, like the beta particles from 137Cs in CsCl. On the case of fluorescence, one would need to explain which material shows the fluorescence. The CsCl itself? The moisture? The air? Best, Naclador ( talk) 08:28, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
In regards to the blue glow being attributed to Cherenkov radiation, why would the daughter have 'been fascinated by the glow, applying the powder to her body' as soon as the power was removed from the capsule we would no longer have the transparent medium required for Cherenkov radiation to appear it should have only been non-glowing grey dust. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
64.132.140.162 (
talk)
11:04, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
This is wrong. The CsCl itself is the transparent refractive medium, neither moisture nor glass is neccessary. Naclador ( talk) 13:29, 5 June 2014 (UTC)
The article contains a claim, "[They] found the teletherapy unit ... and placed it in a wheelbarrow, taking it to Alves's home." In a wheelbarrow? Does anyone have any idea how much these things weigh? Whether the reference given made this claim is unknown as it is now a broken link. The sheer mass of lead that is in the head of any radiotherapy unit means that they weigh several tens of tonnes. This would not only crush your average wheelbarrow, but you would need a fairly substantial piece of handling equipment to get it in the wheelbarrow in the first place. This reference states that "he got some friends to help him haul it into his back yard". [1] It doesn't say how many friends but "haul it into his back yard" doesn't sound like "wheeled it in a wheelbarrow" which would only reqiure one person.
When I worked for a hospital, whenever a new radiotherapy unit was installed, the floor on which it was installed always had to be reinforced to accept the weight. When an old unit was donated to the London Science Museum (presumably with the source removed), the museum decided to remodel the head of the unit as a fibreglass replica otherwise it would have fallen straight through the floor where it was due to be displayed (and the accompanying museum label actually states this). DieSwartzPunkt ( talk) 16:34, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
"R.A. had heard rumours that valuable equipment had been left in
1987 the disused clinic of the IGR (Location A). R.A. and a friend, W.P.,
went to the site of the disused clinic and tried to dismantle the tele-
therapy unit with simple tools. R.A. and W.P. finally succeeded in
removing the rotating assembly. The shiny stainless steel casing
appeared valuable to them and they took it in a wheelbarrow to R.A.'s
house (Location B), half a kilometre from the clinic."
References
I tagged the article for tone and trimmed some of the trivia/unnecessary details. Wikipedia is no an indiscriminate collection of information and the page looks more like a police report (where all information must kept in case it is needed later) than an encyclopedic summary-style entry; my edits barely scratched the surface. Tigraan ( talk) 12:42, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
This incident (or a similar one) seems to have inspired an episode of the cartoon 'Captain Planet' [ [4]]. Googling gives me this result. [ [5]]. What kind of references are required before making an addition to the article? Cplusplusboy ( talk) 13:32, 17 August 2015 (UTC)
Appears to me unnecessarily and intentionally depreciative and offensive with the Brazilian-allusion to the banana republic nationality - placed at the mention of the "detail" that contributes nothing to the description of the accident except to - you disrespectful jokingly as ignorance of the workers and junk picker at the South American people made the following reference: "Voudireinão da Silva, did not show up to work, using a sick day to attend the film screening of" Herbie Goes Bananas " with his family — Preceding unsigned comment added by Solon36 ( talk • contribs) 19:09, 26 December 2013 (UTC)
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Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 12:01, 7 January 2016 (UTC)
I'm sorry about my English, so i am not going to change anything in the main text; but i have something interesting about this incident (or accident), maybe someone can change the text:
The accident was in 1985 not 1987!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.145.114.36 ( talk) 05:26, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
This article is supported well by a variety of sources. Although sources like the Washington Post may have a left-leaning bias, the government sources add credibility to the article. As for the content of the article, it appears to stick to the facts and have a neutral bias overall, although some sections could use some more elaboration. XXESPM163Xx ( talk) 06:01, 1 February 2017 (UTC)
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The liability is not clear to me. If I read it correctly, the IGR was restrained by the court from removing anything from the clinic, yet they were charged with criminal negligence in the matter? How can that be? MartinezMD ( talk) 17:44, 18 November 2018 (UTC)
coming from the German article (plus quick googling) only seven houses were demolished - although a lot more underwent refurbishing / scraping of walls + repainting. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dwayne Felixondo ( talk • contribs) 11:44, 26 May 2020 (UTC)
> While the serial number of the device was unknown, thus hindering definitive identification, the device was thought to have been made in the U.S. at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was used as a radiation source for radiation therapy at the Goiânia hospital.[1]
This is a bit confusing, as it implies that "the device" (presumably the radiological unit) was manufactured in the U.S.A., however, according to the cited source, it seems that the unit was "designed by Barazetti and Company of Milan, Italy" and "marketed by Generay SpA." This suggests that it was also likely manufactured in Italy (though the document is unclear, as it only says "designed," which can mean different things).
The same article does confirm, however, that the radioactive source (not the rest of the unit) "is thought to have been produced at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) facility in the United States of America in about 1970."
So, to say that "the device" was manufactured at Oak Ridge seems confusing and mostly misleading. Given the IAEA document, I think it is reasonable to say that the teletherapy unit was designed by Barazetti and Company of Milan, Italy, with the source thought to have been made in the U.S. at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. – Hypertext ( talk) 04:01, 20 August 2020 (UTC)
Hi. Although only 4 deaths were reported to be directly related to the source & it's contamination of the immediate area & individuals there is no doubt other deaths were somewhat indirectly attributable to the source, albeit difficult to determine. I was thinking would it be prudent to clarify, by way of bracketed text, to show the 4 deaths as "(direct)"? Thanks for your consideration. Regards, Michael 120.16.71.100 ( talk) 17:16, 4 December 2022 (UTC)
Is there any better way to refer to the wife of the junkyard owner, other than 'the wife'? Is her name known, or is that confidencial? -- Solipsist 15:45, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
I've edited the article introduction to reflect the subsequent reference to "the theft" because there was no reference to it having been stolen, just "taken". Matuko ( talk)2