The VOLVID PLC conducted gamma radiography to inspect welded joints at an industrial site of Borsodchem PLC at Kacincbarcika. The inspection was executed by a GammaMat SE device, containing a Category 3 Se-75 sealed radioactive source with 1,71 TBq activity. Upon competition of the inspection, the source could not be retracted into the device. The workers followed the emergency protocol of the radiation safety programme in order to protect the workers and the members of the public. Additionally notified the National Service for Radiation Health Preparedness (NSRHEP) and the maintenance service company (MSC). The MSC shielded the source, dismantled it from the device and placed the source into a transport container. The personal effective doses of the radiographers and the workers of MSC were negligible, well below occupational dose constraints. Members of public were not affected by the event. The source and the device was moved to the site of MSC. Subsequent inspections confirmed that the defectoscope was maintained regularly and properly, and the failure was caused by an unforeseeable break in one joint of the link-type source holder.
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, […]
From the IPFM: During a visit to the Civaux nuclear power plant on 18 March 2024, France's Minister of the Armed Forces unveiled a plan to use the plant to produce tritium for the French nuclear weapons program. Civaux is a civilian power plant that belongs to and is operated by Electricité de France. According […]
An analysis by the Norwegian NGO Bellona of transborder trade operations with the customs code 840130 (irradiated fuel assemblies or fuel elements) show a more than twofold increase of import to EU countries of fresh nuclear fuel in cash terms – from 280 million Euros in 2022 to 686 million Euros in 2023. In physical […]
The French government has said it is "seriously" studying the option of building a plant to convert and enrich reprocessed uranium to cut its reliance on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The only plant in the world that currently converts reprocessed uranium for use in nuclear power plants is in Russia. "The option of […]
