Quirra: Il
Decreto di sequestro della Procura di Lanusei
HISTORICAL THORIUM CONTAMINATION IN A
RESEARCH FACILITY
x
Report from a
french incident.
Some differences may exist between french and
english regulations. Lessons learned are only a
translation of those of french incident and are
not adapt to english regulation.
Description of the incident
For several years, a research centre used
thorium for the synthesis of new materials; this
work ceased over 10 years ago. The room where
the thorium was handled was adjacent to a
recently renovated office. A film dosimeter,
stored in this office, twice registered a
quarterly dose of 3.5 mSv..
My Great Web page
LA
PROTESTA DI KOODANKULAM È COMPLETAMENTE LEGITTIMA
di Prashant Bushan - Senior Lawyer - Supreme Court of India:
Report from a french incident.
[Source:
Environmentalists Against War Steering Committee
- November 28, 2012
-
Helen Jaccard /
Special to EAW
Posted in
accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code,
for noncommercial, educational purposes.]
A radiological survey was equested by the
regulatory authorities, which determined the
origin of this exposure. Thorium deposits had
accumulated over the several years of operation
in the laboratory’s sewage disposal pipes (the
laboratory had no specific radioactive effluent
pipeline) – and this was the main source of the
recorded doses. A more thorough search revealed
significant contamination of workbenches, fume
cupboards, kilns and pipes.
The following actions were taken :
The laboratory was immediately closed and sealed,
with any remedial measures being subject to
prior authorization.
A decontamination operation was conducted by a
specialized company.
Information was distributed to laboratory
personnel and to persons in the neighboring
laboratories.
The technical personnel working in the
facilities received specific training regarding
chemical and radiological risks.
The costs of decontamination were estimated to
be €200,000 and the volume of waste produced by
the decontamination work was twenty 200-litre
drums.
Radiological consequences
The main exposure route is thought to be from
external radiation, ie as indicated on the film
dosemeter. The office in question had only
recently been occupied; prior to this it was a
storage room.
Bioassay tests performed on several staff
members that potentially could have been
contaminated were negative.
During the decontamination, no airborne
contamination was detected.
Lessons to be learned from the incident
Tight controls are required when working with
dispersible radioactive materials, and in this
case years of bad laboratory practice resulted
in significant levels of radioactive
contamination. Regular contamination monitoring
is an essential control to avoid the
accumulation of activity.
It is important to find and retain information
on older facilities that may have changed use
many years ago, but may still have a legacy of
radiation risks. This is particluar relevant in
cases where material such as thorium were
hsitorically used (ie because it may have been
regarded as a "natural" radioactive material,
and not subject to the same controls applied to
artificial radioactive materials).
A specific pipeline for contaminated liquid
effluents should be used to collect all of this
waste in a decay tank. This pipe should be
checked regularly.
Uranium et Thorium, scandale en puissance chez
les militaires.
Chiunque voglia attivare contatti con RNA, si rivolgerà
solo e soltanto ai seguenti recapiti:
HISTORICAL THORIUM
CONTAMINATION IN A RESEARCH FACILITY Report from a french
incident:
The nuclear physicist Evandro Lodi
Rizzini of Brescia University and CERN (European Organization for
Nuclear Research) found elevated levels of radioactive thorium
232 and cerium (proving that the thorium was man-made) in the
tissues of 15 of 18 bodies of Quirra-area shepherds who died of
cancer between 1995 and 2000. On March 24, 2012 Fiordalisi indicted twenty people on
charges of "willful omission of precautions against injury and
aggravated disasters or because they falsely certified the absence
of pollution with the aim to "hide the environmental disaster." The
documents from Fiordalisi's investigation have now been turned over
to a tribunal for prosecution.. Read More here.
Quirra: Il
Decreto di sequestro della Procura di Lanusei
