Industrial radiography was being undertaken at a manufacturing plant using a 0,177 TBq Iridium-192 source. During an exposure, the source got stuck as it was being projected. The radiographer tried to retract the source into the gamma device and the source apparently detached. The event was recognized immediately by the radiographer who took carefully the equipment and the guide tube in order to perform the recovery of the source. The recovery operation was performed following the specific procedure but in that moment the radiographer noticed that the radiation levels did not decreased and the source was broken. The radiographer fenced the area and notified the incident to national authority (IPEN) and requesting assistance to recover the source. The national authority team arrived to the place in a few time and located the pellets of radioactive source and proceeded to recovered them. Four hours elapsed between the beginning of event and the total recovery of radioactive source. The pellets were put inside a shield and stored temporarily in a safe location and then after taken to the Radioactive Waste Plant. Doses received by workers were no more than 1,65 mSv and the personnel of team received doses no more than 5 mSv.
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 […]
