Production unit shut down at Lucas Heights nuclear lab after radiation scare
Regulators are alarmed after two employees at a nuclear medicine production unit were exposed to excess radiation. It’s the fifth safety breach in the past two years. The breach is expected to be rated 2 while Chernobyl was 7.
A new nuclear medicine production unit at the Lucas Heights reactor has been shut down after two workers were exposed to excess radiation.
The incident has alarmed regulators as it is the fifth serious safety breach at Lucas Heights in the past two years.
Tests detected a small amount of radioactive liquid on a container of Molybdenum-99, a radioisotope used to diagnose heart disease and other diseases
The hands of two employees were exposed to radiation at an estimated two to three times above the statutory annual dose limit — roughly equivalent to conventional radiation cancer treatment.
The June 21 incident occurred just a month after the opening of the upgraded production facility allowing commercial quantities of Molybdenum-99 to be produced.
The breach is expected to be rated 2 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. In comparison the Chernobyl reactor explosion was rated 7.
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The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) operates the reactor. Regulator the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has closed the facility until the investigation is completed on July 6, citing concerns for the workers’ safety.
“The 21 June 2019 accident is the latest in a series of safety-related incidents over the past two years,” a spokesman for ARPANSA said.
“The first and most significant of these previous events was the contamination of a staff member’s hands on 22 August 2017, in which the worker received a radiation dose 40 times higher than the statutory annual dose limit.”
“Three other separate events, on 23 March, 2 May and 7 June 2018 indicated ongoing safety issues at ANSTO Health, but did not result in exposure to workers.”
The spokesman said ARPANSA will not allow operations at the Lucas Heights medicine facility to resume “unless we are satisfied that ANSTO has demonstrated their understanding of how and why the events occurred and what actions they will take to prevent the re-occurrence of such an event.”
An ANSTO spokesman said the staff members affected on June 21 had been cleared to return to work and continued to receive ongoing support.
“We are undertaking a comprehensive investigation into how the small quantity of material was displaced, the sequence of events, and how it can be prevented from happening again,” he said.
The latest incident occurred just 28 days after the $168 million facility was granted a licence to supply nuclear medicine — something which the CEO of ANSTO bragged about at the time.
Production has had to be routed through another facility within the Lucas Heights compound. “Vital supplies of nuclear medicine are currently being provided through alternative facilities,” ANSTO said.
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