On September 13, 1987, the biggest radioactive accident in an urban area occurred in Goiânia; the world population had not yet recovered from the radioactive accident that occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, due to the explosion of one of the reactors, in 1986. At that time, radiotherapy already existed in Goiânia, whose main tool is ionizing radiation.
Ionizing radiations, within the radiotherapy service, are highly energized, as they have a small wavelength and high frequency, and these can be obtained through the linear accelerator or elements radioactive
In 1987, the IGR (Goiano Institute of Radiology) was closed and there was an abandoned device used in the place. to do radiotherapy, inside there was the cesium 137 isotope inside a capsule, which until then was armored. Cesium 137 is an isotope of cesium because it has the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons, and it is a radioisotope because it emits radiation.
Paper pickers, looking for scrap that could be sold to a junkyard, broke into the old IGR and took home the capsule containing cesium 137. The problem arose when they breached the capsule and gained access to the radioactive element that was there.
After the breach of the capsule, people, animals, surfaces and almost everything in the vicinity underwent irradiation (received incidence of radiation) and were contaminated (presence of radioactive element on any surface that causes potential health risk) by cesium 137.
The radiation emitted by this isotope is ionizing, that is, it has the ability to remove electrons from the electrosphere and this removal in living beings causes genetic alterations that can result in cancer, down syndrome, albinism, anemia, among others.
This accident generated about 13.4 tons of radioactive waste, several people with health problems and a scarring wound in the population of Goiás due to the irresponsibility of a few.
By Frederico Borges de Almeida
Graduated in Physics
Brazil School Team
Electromagnetism - Physics - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/fisica/o-acidente-radioativo-goiania.htm