 INES 1 |
Melting of Orphan Source |
Tuesday 13 September 2011 in the evening, the FANC was informed that a radiation portal monitor for the measurement of radioactivity in a French facility indicated the presence of radioactive material in the load of a truck coming fom Duferco La Louvière Produits Longs, located in La Louvière, Belgium.
Immediately after the event had been reported, the FANC went to the site of Duferco La Louvière Produits Longs, accompanied by experts of the recognised control organisation AIB Vinçotte Controlatom in order to investigate the circumstances of the event and to take the necessarry measures for managing the event.
This event was caused by the inadvertent introduction of a cesium-137 source (~1.5 GB, according to first measurements and conservative calculations) in the electric furnace of Duferco La Louvière Produits Longs, despite the presence of portal monitors at the entrance of the site. This is how the radioactive source was melted and was scattered, mainly in the dust remaining after the production, but also in the system for the extraction of dust from the furnace. Consequently, the FANC was able to conclude that part of the equipment of the installation was contaminated.
The first on-site measurements gave no indication that the workers or the environment have been contaminated. However, as a precautionary measure, the FANC has demanded additional check-ups of the workers that might have been in contact with the installation or the contaminated products. The results of these investigations showed no contamination of the workers up to now.
Under these circumstances, the FANC decided to suspend the production activities of Duferco La Louvière Produits Longs awaiting the decontamination of the contaminated equipment.
Event date: Tue, 13-09-2011
