An industrial gamma radiography exposure device (IGRED), weighing about 17 kg, containing about 0.5 TBq activity of Ir-192 source was lost on May 22, 2006 during transport by three wheeler taxi in Thane (Near Mumbai). The IGRED along with radiography accessories was carried by a trainee radiographer and his assistant in the taxi for carrying out radiography work in a place about 5 km away from the facility where the source was stored. En-route, they shifted to another taxi but inadvertently forgot to shift the radiography device from the first taxi to the second taxi. The source could not be recovered in spite of extensive search operations carried out using high sensitivity radiation survey instruments. No radiation injury has been reported. It is presumed that the source continues to be inside the gamma radiography exposure device. The device has adequate shielding with proper locking mechanisms in place to prevent inadvertent removal of the radioactive source and therefore the incident may not cause any significant radiological hazard to the members of the public.The incident is rated at level-2 on INES.
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 […]
