On August 3, 2004, a licensee notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) an individual’s June film badge had a deep dose reading of 1.2 Sv (121 rem), potentially indicating an exposure in excess of NRC’s regulatory limit of 50 mSv (5 rem) total effective dose equivalent (whole body).
The badge was imaged to determine whether the dose was static or dynamic, but the results were inconclusive. The individual’s self-reading pocket dosimeter, which was worn in the same location as his whole-body dosimeter, only collected 90 uSv (9 mrem) during the month of June 2004. The licensee’s consultant stated that the individual did not exhibit any symptoms of overexposure. The individual is a manager and was in the field for only three days in June 2004, and was not present during any abnormal occurrences. Co-workers that were in the field with the individual did not have any abnormal results when their badges were processed. The individual was sent for blood cell analysis to assist in validating the dosimeter results. The blood cell analysis results were normal. The licensee also arranged for the individual’s blood to be drawn for cytogenetic testing. Results revealed that no aberrations were noted that would indicate an exposure to radiation greater than background. It is believed that there may have been an error in dosimetry processing.
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 […]