Although safety concerns have accompanied the development of nuclear power for commercial use since it began over 60 years ago, the nuclear energy industry's safety record compares well against other forms of energy production. If we look at the number of accidents having more than 5 fatalities in electricity generation chains between 1969 and 2000, the direct fatalities resulting from nuclear power accidents are relatively few when compared to other major energy sources.
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During over 14,700 cumulative reactor-years of commercial operation in 32 countries, there have been three major accidents at nuclear power stations. These accidents aroused extensive concerns and resulted in a call for concerted global efforts to further enhance nuclear safety. In their effort to maintain continuous safety improvement for nuclear power station, the international nuclear community also incorporates lessons taken from these accidents into the overall safety improvement programmes.