On the 21st of January 2019 a well-logging geophysical probe containing 239 GBq activity 241-Am-Be sealed source was dropped to the bottom of a1800 m deep well near Pecs city, Hungary. The cause of the event was the break of the probe head due to material failure. The measurements of the drilling sludge, the well and the vicinity of the wellhead showed no traces of 241-Am contamination indicated that the source remained intact. The break of the probe head was in such a place that the available emergency probe retrieving equipment (overshot assembly) and procedure could not be used immediately. The successful retrieval of the sealed source was only possible on the 06th of February 2019 using a modified retrieval technology based on the approval and oversight of the regulatory body with the involvement of a subcontractor licensed for such an activity. According to the first results of the measurements and the in-filed inspections, the sealed source was safely recovered and no indication of radioactive material release into the environment was found.
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, […]
