The turbine systems at Ringhals unit 1 were opened three days after the turbine was shut down for refurbishment. When the systems were exposed to air, iodine was released from the surfaces of the primary (steam) system. The release of iodine was expected, but the release rate was higher than expected. The iodine was released to the air in the turbine hall where approximately 70 persons were working without respiratory protective devices (face masks). Face masks were not issued as the continuous air monitor had not reached the alarm level 1 DAC (Derived Air Concentration). The incident was discovered when persons were stopped in the exit monitors due to elevated, but still low levels of contamination. The personnel will use face masks a few days to avoid unnecessary problems with alarms at exit monitors. All persons involved with work on the turbine systems will be measured in a whole body counter within one week. All persons who were exposed to elevated but still low levels of iodine in the air were whole body monitored directly after the incident. Only three persons were above the Swedish formal report level 0.5% of the Annual limit of Intake (ALI). The highest intake was 0.59% of ALI which is equivalent to 0.09 mSv effective dose equivalent.
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, […]
