A radiographer received approximately 0.093 Sv (9.3 rem) when a radiography source was unable to be retracted into an industrial radiography device. The radiographer handled the guide tube and collimator with the 3.367 TBq (91 Ci) Ir-192 source in an unshielded position. Dose reconstruction and event re-enactments were conducted to determine how the disconnect occurred. The cause of the event is believed to be a bent pin on the control cable. The licensee is performing testing and other actions to verify that this is the cause. After the radiographer retreated from the source, a Radiation Safety Officer with source retrieval authorization was dispatched to the location and recovered the source. Neither the Radiation Safety Officer nor the assistant radiographer received doses that exceeded the regulatory limit. The licensee committed to the mandatory re-training of employees. The dose to the radiographer exceeded the U.S. regulatory limit for the annual whole body dose of 0.05 Sv (5 rem). NRC EN55511
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, […]
