BHOPAL

GAS
TRAGEDY
A Report
by:

Angelo Arguelles
Christian Earl Duaso
LogoType
Hanz Michael Apolinario
http://www.free-powerpoint-templates-design.com
Questions to be Answered:
WHAT
01 What is the Bhopal Gas Tragedy?

WHEN
02 When did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy occur?

WHERE
03 Where did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy take place?

WHO
04 Who were the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy?

WHY
05 Why did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy take place?

HOW
06 How did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy occur?
 WORST INDUSTRIAL DISASTER IN INDIAN
01 HISTORY
▪ The Bhopal disaster, also known as the
Bhopal gas tragedy, was considered the
world's worst industrial disaster that
turned the city of Bhopal in Madhya
What Pradesh, India into a colossal gas
chamber.
What is
Bhopal Gas ▪ It was a chemical accident in a
Disaster? pesticide factory, in which hundreds of
thousands of people in nearby towns
were exposed to highly toxic gas
Methyl Isocyanate (MIC).

▪ About 45 tons of gas killed thousands

of people and affected over a half
million survivors that suffered from
various health problems due to gas
exposure.
01 METHYL ISOCYANATE

▪ Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) is a safe

colorless liquid when maintained
What
What
properly, and is used for making
pesticides. However, the chemical is
highly reactive to heat and causes a
What is Methyl
What is Methyl heat reaction when exposed to water.
Isocyanate?
Isocyanate (MIC)
▪ Due to the accident, Methyl Isocyanate
is no longer in production, although it
is still used in pesticides. Currently,
the only storage location of MIC left
is the Bayer CropScience plant in
Institute, West Virginia.
02 When
When did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy occur?

Years later, in the

early 21st century
more than 400 tons of
industrial waste were
still present on the
site.

1984 21st 2004

In 2004 the Indian Supreme
The Bhopal gas tragedy,
Court ordered the state to
a chemical leak disaster
supply clean drinking water
happened on the nights
to the residents of Bhopal
of December 2nd and 3rd
because of groundwater
in the year 1984.
contamination.
02 When
When did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy occur?
In 2010 several former
In line with the executives of Union
accident, a government Carbide’s India
affidavit in 2006 subsidiary were
stated the total convicted by a Bhopal
number of people who court of negligence in
got injured and died. the disaster.

2006 2008 2010

In 2008, prior to the
disaster, the Government
of Madhya Pradesh paid
compensation to the
family members of
victims killed in the
gas leak.
 03 Where
Where did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy take place?

• The chemical leak took place in the

city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
state, India. The dangerous gas
4% Methyl Isocyanate escaped from
Union Carbide India Ltd’s (UCIL’s)
plant, a factory that produces
pesticides and was owned by the
Indian subsidiary of the American
firm Union Carbide Corporation.

• The gas drifted over the densely

populated neighborhoods around
the plant that caused immediate
death to thousands of people,
and created a panic as tens of
thousands of others attempted to
flee Bhopal.
 04 Who
Who were the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy?

Death Percentage due to Gas Related Diseases

90% Death toll
80% 77%
70%
• The final death toll was estimated
Number of Deaths

70%
60% 57% 57% to be between 15,000 and 20,000, with
50% the official number of immediate
40%
deaths being 2,259. Others estimated
that 8,000 died within two weeks,
30%
prior to gas exposure, and another
20%
8,000 or more have since died from
10% gas related diseases such as Acute
0% respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS),
ARDS Neurological Cancer Fetal
neurological disorders, cancer and
Disorders Development Abnormality
fetal abnormalities.
Diseases
04 Who
Who were the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy?

• In addition, a government
affidavit stated that the leak
caused 558,125 injuries, including
38,478 temporary partial injuries
and approximately 3,900 severely
and permanently disabling injuries.
The Government of Madhya Pradesh
paid compensation of a few hundred
dollars to the family members of
injured victims and of those who
died in the gas release.
 05 Why
Why did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy take place?

There are two theories being proposed, each arguing the possible causes of the accident: corporate
negligence and worker sabotage.

Corporate Negligence Worker Sabotage

Argues that a potent combination Argues that it was not possible for
of under maintained and the water to enter the tank without
decaying facilities, a weak concerted human effort, and that
attitude towards safety, and an extensive testimony and engineering
under trained workforce caused analysis leads to a conclusion that
the disaster. These inadvertently water entered the tank when a
enabled water to penetrate the rogue employee hooked a water hose
MIC tanks in the absence of directly to an empty valve on the
properly working safeguards. side of the tank. Also, it argues
that the Indian government took
extensive actions to hide this
possibility in order to attach
blame to Union Carbide Corporation.
 06 How
How did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy occur?

The factory had three However, tank E610 malfunctioned and

50% Methyl Isocyanate storage

tanks: E610, E611, and E619.
Each is capable of storing
68,000 liters of liquid MIC. The tanks
E610
lost the ability to contain nitrogen
gas pressure, thus it can no longer
pump the liquid MIC out. Also, this
tank had 42 tons of MIC, which breaks the rule that
were not allowed to be filled more each of the tanks could not be filled with more than
than 50% of its individual capacity, 30 tons of liquid MIC. The UCIL halted the production
and was pressurized with inert and was temporarily shut down for maintenance.
nitrogen gas that allowed liquid MIC
to be pumped out.

Dec.1 st On December 1, an attempt was

made to test the functionality
of the defective tank. However,
most of the safety systems were malfunctioning at that
time. As a result, water had entered the defective tank,
causing a runaway chemical reaction. Then, the pressure
in the tank increased five times by night. The decision
to address the leak was to be made a couple of minutes
later.
 06 How
How did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy occur?

30tons
However, by then the chemical
reaction in the tank had reached
a critical state. About 30 tons
of MIC escaped from the tank into the
atmosphere within an hour. Most
Bhopal residents were made aware of
the gas leak by exposure to the gas
itself, or by opening their doors to
investigate commotion, rather than
having been instructed to shelter in
place, or to evacuate before the
arrival of the gas in the first place.
Chernobyl
Reactor
Incident
Questions to be Answered:
WHAT
01 What is the Chernobyl Reactor Incident?

WHEN
02 When did the Chernobyl Reactor Incident occur?

WHERE
03 Where did the Chernobyl Reactor Incident take place?

WHO
04 Who were the victims of the Chernobyl Reactor Incident?

WHY
05 Why did the Chernobyl Reactor Incident take place?

HOW
05 How did the Chernobyl Reactor Incident occur?
01 WORST DISASTER IN THE HISTORY OF
NUCLEAR POWER GENERATION

▪ The Chernobyl reactor incident in 1986

What at the Chernobyl nuclear power station
in the Soviet Union, is the worst
What is disaster in the history of nuclear
power generation. The reactor was
Chernobyl destroyed in the accident and huge
Reactor Incident amounts of radioactive material were
released to the environment.

▪ The station consisted of four reactors,

each reactor capable of producing 1,000
megawatts of electric power.
01 What
What is the Chernobyl Reactor RADIONUCLIDES: iodine 131, caesium 134
Incident? and caesium 137.

▪ The radionuclides released from the

reactor that caused exposure to
individuals were mainly iodine 131,
caesium 134 and caesium 137.

▪ Iodine 131 has a short radioactive

half life (eight days), but it can be
transferred to humans through the
air and through consumption of
contaminated drinks and leafy
vegetables.

Concentration of I-131, Cs-137 and Cs-134 in

the air of Chernobyl City
02 When 03 Where
When did the Chernobyl Reactor Incident? Where did the Chernobyl Reactor Incident take
place?

• The Chernobyl
power station was
located at the
settlement of
Pryp’yat, 10 miles
(16 km) northwest
April 26, 1986 of the city of
Chernobyl and 65
miles (104 km)
• The accident at the Chernobyl
north of Kyiv,
nuclear reactor that occurred
Ukraine.
on April 26, 1986 was the
most serious accident ever to
happen in the nuclear power
industry.
04 Who
Who were the victims of the Chernobyl Reactor Incident?

Death toll

• Two Chernobyl plant workers died

due to the explosion on the night of
the accident. Acute radiation
syndrome (ARS) was diagnosed in 237
people onsite and involved with the
clean up and it was later confirmed
in 134 cases. Of these, 28 people died
as a result of ARS within a few
weeks of the accident. Nineteen more
workers subsequently died between
1987 and 2004, but their deaths
cannot necessarily be attributed to
radiation exposure.
04 Who
Who were the victims of the Chernobyl Reactor Incident?

Estimated Death Toll

70000
60000
60000
Number of Deaths

50000
40000
30000
30000
20000 16000
9000
10000 4000
0
World Health Cardis et al. (2006) Fairlie & Summer
Organization (2005)
Published Sources
Trial 1 Trial 2
 05 Why
Why did the Chernobyl Reactor Incident take place?

Your Text Here

• The April 1986 disaster at the
You can simply
Chernobyl nuclear power plant
impress your
in Ukraine wasaudience
the product
and add of a
flawed Soviet a reactor
unique zing. design
coupled with serious mistakes
made by the plant operators. It
was a direct consequence of Cold
War isolation and the resulting
lack of any safety culture.
 06 How
How did the Bhopal Gas Tragedy occur?

Apr.25th On April 25, 1986, routine maintenance was scheduled at V.I. Lenin
Nuclear Power Station’s fourth reactor, and workers planned to use
the time to test, attempted a poorly designed experiment. Workers shut
down the reactor’s power regulating system and its emergency safety systems, and they withdrew
most of the control rods from its core while allowing the reactor to continue running at a very
low percent power.

• During the test, workers violated safety

protocols and power surged inside the plant.
Workers tried to shut down the reactor
completely, but another power surge caused a
chain reaction of explosions. Finally, the
nuclear core itself was exposed, and then
spreading radioactive material into the
atmosphere.