A lead radiographer approached the end of the guide tube having assumed that the source had already been retracted into the shielded camera. After approximately 90 seconds the assistant radiographer entered the area. The assistant radiographer’s alarming rate meter and survey meter indicated the presence of radiation and the two individuals left the area. The lead radiographer was wearing a whole body dosimetry badge which was sent for emergency processing. The dosimeter was measured by the vendor at 8.36 mSv (836 mrem). Based on re-enactments during the State of Ohio’s reactive inspection, the licensee estimated the lead radiographer’s whole body dose to be 130 mSv (13 rem), which exceeds the statutory limit of 50 mSv (5 rem) to the whole body. The licensee also estimated the lead radiographer’s extremity dose to the hand to be 65 mSv (6.5 rem), which does not exceed the statutory limit of 500 mSv (50 rem) to an extremity. The licensee is assigning the calculated whole body and extremity doses to the individual because the lead radiographer was wearing the dosimetry badge on his belt; therefore, the badge was not optimally positioned to record his dose from the source. The State of Ohio made the following observations during their reactive inspection: the lead radiographer’s alarming rate meter had a dead battery; the radiographers did not utilize a source collimator causing the source to be unshielded; the lead radiographer’s survey meter was not fully functional; and the lead radiographer had not tested his survey meter for proper response on the day of the event. NRC EN50014.
Everywhere you look, the nuclear industry’s hype machine is in overdrive. Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and the UK government all tout small modular reactors as the silver bullet for climate change and energy security. Tech billionaires are hiring nuclear veterans. Wall Street is whispering about “round-the-clock power” for artificial intelligence data centers. For those old enough […]
Kernenergie en veiligheid: A wargame sought to test if a major radiological release that would prompt the evacuation of millions of civilians in South Korea could distract key US allies from assisting and rebuffing an all-out military invasion of Taiwan. The short answer was yes. The game originally presumed that China, wanting to keep the […]
Big batteries and EVs to the rescue again as faults with new nuclear plant cause chaos on Nordic grids The Finnish nuclear power plant Olkiluoto was finally connected to the grid last year, at an estimated cost of €11 billion compared to the original budget of €3 billion. That cost blowout forced its developer, the […]
A vast subsea nuclear graveyard planned to hold Britain’s burgeoning piles of radioactive waste is set to become the biggest, longest-lasting and most expensive infrastructure project ever undertaken in the UK. The project [UK's nuclear waste dump] is now predicted to take more than 150yrs to complete with lifetime costs of £66bn in today’s money...The […]
Last year, the Dutch Province of Limburg started an alliance in which, besides the local government, research institutes, small nuclear reactor (SMR) developers, utilities, industrial customers and funders cooperated. With this "Limburg SMR alliance" Limburg tried to lead the way towards an SMR in Limburg. The preferred site for a first SMR would be Chemelot, […]
