A radiographer assistant exceeded the 50 mSv (5 rem) exposure limit for 2012. This individual consistently had higher exposures than other employees and had failed to turn in his badge at the end of April 2012, instead continuing to wear it through May. At the end of October, the assistant again failed to turn in his badge and wore it through November, but turned in his December badge. After his badge worn during October and November 2012 was finally turned in and processed, it was identified that his total dose for the year 2012 was 59 mSv (5.9 rem). When interviewed, the certified radiographer the assistant worked with stated that on two or three occasions, they had retracted the source but when they approached the camera their rate alarms went off. They then cranked the source out and retracted it again, which corrected the problem. The radiographer stated that after each incident, he had checked his and his assistant’s direct-reading dosimeters and found they indicated a dose of 0.1 mSv (10 mrem) or less, therefore he decided not to report them to the RSO. He also stated that the need to keep up with the work load played a role in his decision not to report these incidents. The State asked the radiation safety officer to perform another investigation into this incident, specifically focusing on whether this was an isolated incident or if this was representative of the overall culture at the facility. The State informed the radiation safety officer that enforcement action would be deferred pending the results of his investigation. NRC EN48702.
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 […]