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The Goiânia accident (Brazilian Portuguese: )), also known locally as the caesium-137 accident/caesium-137 Goiânia, was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on September 13, 1987, in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, after an unsecured radiotherapy source, inside a lead-and-steel medical device, was found by scavenger thieves at an abandoned hospital site in the city.

The thieves, and then workers at the scrapyard owned by Devair Ferreira, who bought the device from the thieves, used tools to open the device and expose the caesium-137 crystals (specifically a caesium chloride salt). Ferreira brought the exposed caesium-137 crystals to his home, sharing them with his family and neighbours; the caesium-137 crystals were subsequently handled by many people, resulting in four deaths – two of Ferreira's family members and two of his scrapyard employees. 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. 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".

The radiation source in the Goiânia accident was a small capsule containing about 93 grams (3.3 oz) of highly radioactive caesium chloride (a caesium salt) made with the radioactive isotope caesium-137, and encased in a shielding canister made of lead and steel. While the serial number of the device was unknown, hindering the ability to verify its identity, the device was thought to have been made in the U.S. at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a radiation source for radiation therapy at the Goiânia hospital.

The Instituto Goiano de Radioterapia (IGR), a private radiotherapy institute in Goiânia, was one kilometre (0.6 mi) northwest of Praça Cívica, the administrative center of the city.

Within days, nearly 130,000 people in Goiânia flooded local hospitals, concerned that they might have been exposed.

In 2007, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation determined that the rate of caesium-137 related diseases are the same in Goiânia accident survivors as they are in the population at large. The mortality from pancreatic cancer in the Central-Western region of Brasil, which includes Goiás with Goiânia, has seen higher mortality rates than other areas of the country.

The CNEN was ordered to pay compensation of R$1 million, to guarantee medical and psychological treatment for the direct and indirect victims of the accident and their descendants down to the third generation, to provide transportation to medical exams for the most serious victims, and was responsible for the medical follow-up for the people of Abadia de Goiás city. The Social Security Institute for Civil Servants in the State of Goiás, IPASGO, was ordered to pay a fine of R$100,000, plus interest as of 13 September 1987, the date of removal of the caesium-137 capsule.

The Goiânia accident spread significant radioactive contamination throughout the Aeroporto, Central, and Ferroviários districts.

IGR moved its clinic to another location in the city, with the previous site having been replaced around 2000 with the modernized Centro de Convenções de Goiânia (Goiânia Convention Center).

Banned products from Goiânia created a public outcry, citing unjust discrimination. The state government of Goiás established the Fundação Leide das Neves Ferreira in February 1988, both to study the extent of contamination of the population as a result of the incident and to render aid to those affected.

A 1990 film, Césio 137 – O Pesadelo de Goiânia (Caesium-137 – The Nightmare of Goiânia), a dramatisation of the incident, was made by Roberto Pires. Cesium Fallout, a 2024 Hong Kong disaster thriller film, was partially inspired by the Goiânia accident.

Book on the history of the accident by the Goiás State Department of Health (SES-GO)

Quick Facts

• A 1990 film, Césio 137 – O Pesadelo de Goiânia (Caesium-137 – The Nightmare of Goiânia), a dramatisation of the incident, was made by Roberto Pires.
• The radiation source in the Goiânia accident was a small capsule containing about 93 grams (3.3 oz) of highly radioactive caesium chloride (a caesium salt) made with the radioactive isotope caesium-137, and encased in a shielding canister made of lead and steel.
• IGR moved its clinic to another location in the city, with the previous site having been replaced around 2000 with the modernized Centro de Convenções de Goiânia (Goiânia Convention Center).
• 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".
• About 112,000 people were examined for radioactive contamination and 249 of them were found to have been contaminated.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Goiânia accident". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.