What is an emergency?

If a larger amount of radioactive substances is released, this is called a radiological emergency, which can have an impact on health and the environment. Radiological emergencies can be triggered, for example, by failures of technical components, by human error or even by natural disasters. The most widely known nuclear accidents that included massive releases of radioactive substances into the environment occurred in 1986 in Chornobyl (Russian: Chernobyl, Ukraine) and in 2011 in Fukushima (Japan).