Dark Case: Goiania Nuclear Accident Another Chernobyl

When it comes to nuclear accidents, surely what comes to your mind is the Chernobyl and Fukushima cases. The two nuclear power plants experienced accidents that caused the surrounding residents to be exposed to deadly nuclear radiation. But in September 1987, residents of a small town called Goiania in Brazil were haunted by a terrible incident, in which more than 100,000 residents admitted to being sick from radiation. How can a nuclear disaster befall civilians in a city far from a nuclear power plant?

The answer is hospital. Every hospital, whether we realize it or not, must have radioactive material that is used for chemotherapy or CT-scans. If hazardous materials fall into the wrong hands, the consequences can be very dangerous.

On the evening of September 13, 1987, two men sneaked into the former hospital building that had almost collapsed. The old building was once the Instituto Goiano de Radioterapia (IGR), a private hospital that specializes in radiotherapy. A few years earlier, in 1985, the hospital moved to a new location, leaving an abandoned building that is now in ruins.

The two men are Roberto dos Santos Alves and Wagner Mota Pereira, two local scavengers who intend to find junk they might be able to sell. They arrive at the therapy room and see a mysterious metal capsule. Intrigued because they had never seen it, let alone because it was made of metal they could sell, they finally took it.

They were completely unaware that they were taking capsules containing cesium chloride, a very dangerous radioactive material. The capsules give off 4.56 gray per hour, of which 2 gray is enough to harm the body if exposed for several hours.

At that time they were still safe, because the cesium was still neatly wrapped in a capsule made of tin and steel. But not for long. After taking the capsule to Roberto's residence, the two of them began to take it apart; a move that resulted in successive disasters and deaths.

With makeshift equipment, they tried to open it. Immediately, the two men began to feel the effects. They started feeling dizzy and vomited. But without realizing that the reaction was being produced by a radioactive substance before their eyes, they continued. The next day, Wagner's pain got worse, even the hands he used to hold the capsule now began to swell from the burns. Later, the finger he used to hold the capsule had to be amputated.

Wagner tried to come to the hospital and complained of feeling in his body. But doctors, not realizing that the symptoms were due to radioactivity, thought it was due to a food allergy and sent him home. Meanwhile, Roberto continued his efforts to open the capsule. His attempts would later result in amputation of his hand, like his counterpart.

This time Roberto's attempt was successful. He managed to put a screwdriver into the capsule and saw blue light come out of it. He even took a bit of the burning material and was amazed by its beauty. He was completely unaware that this dazzling beam was called Cherenkov Radiation and was only produced by extremely dangerous radioactive emissions. In fact, you could say, not many people could see these rays and were still alive.

Roberto then sold the capsule to a junkyard owner named Devair Alves Ferreira. Hypnotized by the blue light emitted by the capsule, Devair thinks the capsule smells supernatural and invites his family and friends to witness it.

Devair then managed to get cesium chloride granules out of the tube and distributed them to his family and friends, spreading the disaster. That same day, Devair's wife, Gabriela, began to feel sick. Ivo, Devair's brother who was also fascinated by the blue glowing substance, asked for a little and took it home. There, his 6 year old daughter Leide played with him, even eating a little.

Gabriela was the first to notice the effects of the blue glowing substance when she realized that she and those around her had been sick since the substance appeared in the house. Her hair began to fall out for no reason and out of fear she took the capsules to the hospital on September 28 (15 days after Roberto and Wagner took them). There, everything was finally revealed. The city government and all the authorities immediately realized that a terrible disaster was hitting their small town.

But it's too late. Everyone who saw the blue light was sick and dying. One by one they finally met their end. Starting with Admilson Alves de Souza, a worker at the Devair junkyard who suffers from lung damage, internal bleeding, and heart failure. He died October 18 of that year.

His death was followed tragically by two members of the Ferreira family, namely little Leide and Gabriela, Devair's wife. They receive a dose of about 6 grays (2 grays is enough radiation to harm human life). Leide suffered damage to almost all of his organs. She is being treated in isolation, where no doctors and nurses in the small town have dared to approach her.

After finally breathing his last breath on October 23, Leide was buried in a special fiberglass box and covered with thick lead to prevent radiation from her body from spreading. Even the funeral process was opposed by local residents for fear that her body would pollute the environment.

The next victim was Gabriela who died on the same day as Leide. Mild initial symptoms such as hair loss due to radiation which is eventually followed by more serious symptoms, such as internal bleeding, kidney failure, to mental effects such as senility, even though she is only 37 years old, proves that radiation has attacked the brain. Blood came out of her eyes and her digestive tract was completely destroyed. After a month of suffering, she finally developed blood poisoning after suffering from infections all over her body.

Another victim was Israel Baptista dos Santos, a 24-year-old young man who also worked at a junkyard. His respiratory tract and spleen were so badly damaged that he died on October 27.

The last victims were Devair and his younger brother, Ivo, who got the highest dose, 7 grays. The two actually survived for several years, but Devair died in 1994, followed by Ivo in 2003. Depression also contributed to the deaths of both of them, which is not surprising as both must have felt guilty for the death of their family.

News of an immediate radioactive incident shocked the entire country. About 130 thousand residents of the small town immediately stormed the hospital and it turned out that it was true, a geiger counter was used to measure the radiation that was burning non-stop. About 250 people were found to be exposed to alarming levels of radiation. Luckily, they all received intensive care to minimize the adverse effects of radiation on their bodies.

Then who is ultimately responsible for this tragedy? Roberto and Wagner who first stole the radioactive tube are presumed innocent, not knowing what they were doing. The responsibility fell on the hospital which deliberately left the hazardous materials neglected so that the court obliged them to pay compensation to the victims.

Then what about the radiation source itself? The radioactive capsule is secured by the military and the cleanup process begins. To illustrate how rigorous the radiation removal process is, the entire topsoil in the contaminated area has to be excavated and removed. Several houses had to be torn down and those who were still allowed to stand had to peel off all the paint on the walls, the floors were poured with acid, and the roof had to be removed. Even so, so that victims do not transmit radiation to the environment, their urine must first be treated with ion exchange resin so that it can be disposed of safely. Unfortunately, the half-life of cesium alone is 35 years, which means it will take 35 years for cesium radiation levels to drop by half.

Happy reading.