A company licensed to perform well logging discovered that a source containing 44 GBq (1.2 curies) of cesium-137 was missing. The company recovered the source at a location where the source had been used two days earlier for a drilling rig operator not licensed to possess radioactive materials. The source was intact. The company determined that 31 nonradiation workers were exposed to the source while it was uncontrolled. It was determined through exposure rate measurements, coupled with time and motion studies, that the maximally exposed individual received 6.4 cSv (rems); 10individuals received exposures between 2 and 6.4 cSv; 15individuals received exposures between 1 and 2cSv; and 6 individuals received exposures less than 1 cSv. No adverse health effects are expected to any of the exposed individuals. The company concluded that the cause of the source being uncontrolled at the drilling rig was the failure of the well logging crew to follow standard operating procedures which require that multiple radiation surveys be conducted to verify the presence of the source in its shield. Apparently, none of the required surveys were performed by the crew.
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 […]