On 5 November 2003, Reukema Blocq & Maneschijn (RBM) alarmed the Inspectorate, that they had a radiation alarm of their portal detector. It turned out that the 40 feet container with yellow copper was shipped from Nigeria to Rotterdam and was transported by truck to Metallo Chimique in Beerse (Belgium). At Metallo the container was opened and due to unknown reasons the load was refused. By order of the trader, Sudamin Recycling GMBH & Co. KG. in Essen (Germany), the container was transported to RBM. Based on the portal detector readings the doserate at the outside of the container was estimated by the Inspectorate to be a few microSieverts per hour. On 11 November 2003 the container was investigated by a firm, specialized in tracing radioactive sources. The doserate at the outside of the container was 2,5 microSieverts per hour. With a portable gamma spectometer it was not clear which radionuclide caused the enhanced radiation level of the container. After partial unloading of the container the firm found an unshielded encapsulated strontium-90 (Sr90/Y90) source. The source was taken to a radiological facility and examined there. The source holder beared identification marks. These read probably 'IPL 90SR-90Y 125 mCi 2-83 67-850 E-891' (see figures 1 and 2). The gamma doserate at the surface of the source was 14 milliSieverts per hour. Based on the identification marks the original activity was 4,6 GBq. Both in Belgium as in The Netherlands there were no adverse health effects because the source was shielded by the load. The skindose of the face of the officer, who put the source in safety, was estimated (conservative) at 45 milliSieverts and his dose to the covered eye lens at 10 milliSieverts. At the location of loading, possibly in Nigeria, there could have been adverse health effects because the beta dose rate at 10 cm was about 2,8 Gray per hour.
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, […]
