On 10th of January 2022, six pieces of Co-60 sealed radioactive sources, with 74 TBq activity each, were moved from a UKITB-250-6 type transport container at a working place of the Institute of Isotopes Ltd. During the procedure one sealed source was misplaced within the container into a less shielded position. The event occurred inside a building within the controlled area. The event triggered an alarm at both installed and personal radiation detection equipment. The workers left the location immediately and notified the radiation protection officer and the radiation protection service. All the employees were asked to leave the building and the area was secured until the recovery procedure started in which 14 workers were involved. Does rates of 130-300 mSv/h were measured at the door of operating area. Occupational exposure higher than the authorized dose limit was not indicated by electric personal dosimeters used by the workers. The incident had no radiological consequences.
Location: Institute of Isotopes Ltd. Budapest Event date: Mon, 10-01-2022
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 […]