“MOSCOW: Russia’s military said Wednesday that an old Soviet-built nuclear-powered satellite has spewed fragments in orbit, but insisted they do not threaten the international space station or people on Earth.”
via Russia says old nuclear satellite poses no threat – International Herald Tribune.
Another example of the underplayed and extremely dangerous overlap between military applications and environmental risk.
Sloppy reporting follows:
“In 1978, the Soviet Cosmos-954 nuclear-powered satellite scattered radioactive debris over a lightly populated area of Northern Canada on its fiery re-entry, but caused no injuries.”
Cancer is common everywhere, so of course it is possible that this radioactive debris has caused injuries, either in Nothern Canada or beyond.