 INES 2 |
Contamination of 6 workers during the recovery of a gammagraphy Co-60 source |
Six workers participating in the task of unblocking a high activity radioactive source of cobalt-60 (1.25 TBq) were contaminated in Feursmetal premises (Feurs, Loire). The Co-60 source was blocked since May 7 in the guide tube of a gammagraphy device which was located in a hot cell of the Feursmetal company.
A first recovery operation was carried out unsuccessfully, on 10 May, under the responsibility of Feursmetal and with the assistance of technical teams of the device manufacturer Cegelec. ASN conducted an initial inspection on 12 May to verify the adequate implementation of provisions for radiation protection.
On 26 May, a second operation was carried out by Feursmetal and Cegelec with the support of the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) which provided specific robots to retrieve and secure the radioactive source. The guide tube section in which the source was blocked had been cut on both sides by the robot but, during this operation, the source was damaged and its content spread. This damage was detected when the robot came out of the hot cell for and triggered the contamination survey.
The 6 workers (2 IRSN, 2 CEGELEC and 2 FEURSMETAL) in charge of the recovery operation were contaminated.
The workers were treated by the specialized medical unit of the EDF St. Albans NPP for proximity reasons and this unit confirmed their internal contamination (anthropogammametry result : contamination between 50kBq and 100kBq). The level of contamination will be specified by the ongoing radio toxicological analysis, after doses reconstructions.
Two inspectors from ASN are on site since May 26 evening.
ASN has provisionally classified this incident at level 2 on the INES scale.
Event date: Wed, 26-05-2010
