Every year in the United States alone, there are more than 1,000 officially acknowledged accidents in nuclear facilities. Of these, between 50 and 100 are in the "serious" category.

Each U.S nuclear power plant is forced to shut down for repairs on average ten times per year as a result of mechanical or human failure.

Nobody knows precisely how many mishaps there have been so far - many go unreported, and the military reactors are immune from public scrutiny - but the following is a list of just some of the many publicised and fully reported near misses:-