The final stage of reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel involves the separation of plutonium in a solvent phase (tributyl/phosphate/odourless kerosene) from the uranium/plutonium/fission product mixture. The solvent containing plutonium as nitrate at about 10E+6 Bq/ml is sampled in a number of lightly shielded cabinets before the solvent is stripped to leave plutonium nitrate in the aqueous phase. On 12 January flow of solvent to an instrument in a cabinet became restricted and caused an overflow of plutonium laden solvent to the floor of the cabinet and then to the operating area floor of the reprocessing plant via a leak path from the cabinet. No abnormal doses were received. No air contamination resulted. The area has been decontaminated. Total spillage was 6 x 10E+9 Pu (alpha) plus a.8 x 10E+10 Bq Pu 241, equivalent radiologically to 1 x 10E+10 Bq Pu (alpha). "On site" spillage criteria require comparison with the radiological equivalence of "a few hundred GBq of Ru 106". Pu (alpha) is about 10E+4 times more radiologically restrictive per Bq than Ru 106. Hence the spillage is radiologically equivalent to about 1 x 10E+14 Bq Ru 106. Level 2 is therefore appropriate.
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, […]
