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AnswerI only know of three: The air cooled graphite moderated Windscale reactor in UK (actually it was the graphite that caught fire and then damaged the fuel); Three Mile Island in 1979, a partial melt down; Chernobyl in 1986, an explosion due to a steam pressure surge, fuel meltdown followed. MoreI find the following meltdowns and partial meltdowns listed in the Wikipedia article on meltdowns (see link below):
  • NRX, Ontario, Canada, 1952
  • EBR-1, Idaho, USA, 1951
  • Windscale, Sellafield, England, 1957 (Windscale fire)
  • Santa Susanna Field Laboratory in Simi Hills, California, in 1959
  • SL-1, Idaho, USA, 1961
  • Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station, Newport Michigan, USA, 1966
  • Chapelcross, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, 1967
  • Lucens Reactor, Switzerland, 1969
  • A1 plant, Jaslovske Bohunice, Czechoslovakia, 1977
  • Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, USA, 1979
  • Chernobyl Nuclear power plant, Ukraine, 1986

There have been other meltdowns, notably in Soviet submarines and the icebreaker Lenin. It is thought that there may have been others that are either unreported or unconfirmed. Also, there are other ways nuclear material can be spread into the environment, such as happened at the Kyshtym disaster, in the Soviet Union in 1957, when an explosion released 70 to 80 tonnes of nuclear waste into the environment, or the Goiânia accident, in Brazil in 1987, when something less than a tenth of a liter of radioactive cesium was improperly distributed, killing several people and contaminating hundreds more.

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14y ago
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7mo ago

Meltdowns are extremely rare events in nuclear power plants, with only a few major accidents occurring in the history of nuclear energy. Stringent safety measures, regulations, and redundant systems are in place to prevent and mitigate the consequences of a meltdown. Overall, nuclear power plants are designed to operate safely and reliably.

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15y ago

Very rarely, if it happened more often they would be uneconomic because it ruins the reactor and probably makes it a dead loss. The only case in the US was at Three Mile Island in 1979.

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Q: How often does a meltdown happen in a nuclear power plant?
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Related questions

What nuclear power plant had a meltdown in Ukraine?

Chernobyl


What was the temperature of the chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown?

During the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown, temperatures reached up to 4000 degrees Celsius in the reactor core due to the uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction.


Where did the largest nuclear plant melt down happen?

The largest nuclear plant meltdown happened at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine on April 26, 1986. The explosion and subsequent fire released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere, resulting in one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.


What was the most severe nuclear power plant meltdown?

Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986


Why don't they disassemble the Fukushima nuclear plant?

because its having a meltdown at the moment


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The meltdown probably occurs due to loss of power, so the question does not make sense


Where and when did the nuclear meltdown at three mile island happen?

The nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island occurred in Middletown, Pennsylvania, United States on March 28, 1979. It was the most serious accident in the history of the American commercial nuclear power generating industry.


What nuclear power plant had a meltdown in Ukraine in 1986?

One of the four reactors at Chernobyl


What is the danger of a nuclear plant meltdown?

The danger in a nuclear plant meltdown is that failure of the containment system may follow the meltdown, and this will allow highly radioactive material out into the environment. Let loose, this material can injure or kill exposed individuals, and it can render large areas of land uninhabitable for long periods of time.


How many years passed from the first controlled nuclear reaction to the first nuclear meltdown?

The first controlled nuclear reaction took place in 1942 at the University of Chicago. The first nuclear meltdown occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, which is 44 years later.


Where did the worst Nuclear plant meltdown take place?

The worst nuclear accident occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine (under the management of authorities in Moscow).


What happend in chernobyl?

there was a meltdown at a nuclear plant that caused irrevoable damage and nuclear posioning for generations to come. It is still considered dangerous to go there.