[ RadSafe ] News article from Belgium: Worker Criticalafterhighradiation dose

Tue Apr 11 00:43:34 CDT 2006

With this title , you can find an english version at

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?channel_id=3&story_id=29065

However I sent to Radsafe (see bellow) an English information from the IAEA
site  http://www-news.iaea.org/news/topics/topic/default.asp?topicID=802
(you  need a password)

Jose Julio Rozental
joseroze at netvision.net.il
Israel

Event 2006-03-11

Send; 2006-04-02 12:16:00 UTC
Overexposure of employee in irradiation facility

STERIGENICS - Fleurus, Belgium

Fleurus, Belgium is the site of a Sterigenics irradiation sterilization
facility, performing principally medical device sterilization.  The facility
uses gamma radiation emitted from sealed cobalt 60 isotope source. The
cobalt 60 source is strictly contained in a thick concrete containment
vessel.
When, not in operation, this source is stored in a water pool. A secured
hydraulic system allows taking the source out of this pool in order to
irradiate the products put in the cell. Safety locks prevent the system to
take the source out of the pool when the door of the cell is open.
On Saturday March 11th, an employee went into the room where the cell is
located and observed that the gamma monitor was in high level alarm. The
door of the cell was open and the cell empty, no irradiation was performed
at that time. He reset the monitor and verified that the alarm was not
appearing again. He then decided to close the door of the irradiator. For
safety rules, this requires that he has to enter the cell and to switch on a
contact located in the back of the cell, proving that he verifies that
nobody was inside before shutting the door. He remained about 20 s in the
cell to perform this check. He did not notice any anomaly at this time,
neither inside the cell nor outside. The gamma monitor did not actuate
again.

Some while later he had nausea and vomited but did not consider that this
had anything to do with his work. Nearly three weeks later, he observed that
his hairs were massively falling down. He then went to the physician who
decided to investigate his blood. This showed that he was severely exposed
to high doses of radiations. According to the observed effects, the dose
could have been as high as about 4 Gy. The employee has been hospitalized on
March 31st in a French hospital highly specialized in treatment of radiation
exposure. The accident was not reported to facility or company management
until March 30th, 2006.

Computer records of the position of the source show that the "down" limit
switch was actuated at several time in the period while the employee was
inside the cell. It is provisionally assumed that during his short presence
in the cell, due to a presently not yet identified defect of the hydraulic
system, the source could have been slightly taken out of the water pool.
Further investigation is performed in order to check the working of the
hydraulic system and the electrical control system.

The specific causes of the accident are still under investigation.

We will communicate additional information as soon as it is available.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Villicana, David S." <David.Villicana at nmcco.com>
To: <Rainer.Facius at dlr.de>; <Brent.Rogers at environment.nsw.gov.au>;
<Jim_Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us>; <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 5:54 PM
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] News article from Belgium: Worker
Criticalafterhighradiation dose

> Does anyone know if there is an English version of the write-up
> Thanks
> David
>
> David Villicana PMP
> Monticello NGP
> RP Sr Tech Inst
> David.Villicana at nmcco.com
> 763-271-2610
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of Rainer.Facius at dlr.de
> Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 9:59 AM
> To: Brent.Rogers at environment.nsw.gov.au; Jim_Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us;
radsafe at radlab.nl
> Subject: AW: [ RadSafe ] News article from Belgium: Worker Critical
afterhighradiation dose
>
> Brent:
>
>
>
> An official communiqué (http://www.irsn.org/vf/docs/fleurus.pdf
<http://www.irsn.org/vf/docs/fleurus.pdf> ) leaves no room for doubting that
the employee received - more or less - a full body dose of 4.2 Gy
(uncertainty 3.8 to 4.5) within some 20 s. This source also describes the
casualty as an experienced senior employee who was specifically called from
home for helping the staff on site to turn off an alarm of unknown
causation. The senior employee in full compliance with the safety
regulations shortly inspected the irradiation room before locking up again
its door to make sure that no person stayed inside. This short mandatory
inspection led to his exposure.
>
> What continues to amaze me is that at such high an exposure a particularly
experienced radiation worker took three weeks to realize that he suffered
from acute radiation thickness.
>
> Presently he is receiving dedicated intensive professional care and
hopefully he will recover and hopefully his significantly enhanced cancer
risk does not materialize.
>
> Rainer
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> Von: Rogers Brent [mailto:Brent.Rogers at environment.nsw.gov.au]
> Gesendet: Fr 07.04.2006 00:25
> An: Facius, Rainer; Jim_Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us; radsafe at radlab.nl
> Betreff: RE: [ RadSafe ] News article from Belgium: Worker Critical after
highradiation dose
>
>
>
> Rainer:
>
> I thought the same as you, that the effects didn't match the dose.  I
> suppose it's possible that the annual limit that is referred to in the
> article might be the general public annual limit of 1 mSv.  The article is
> silent on the man's employment status, or whether he is occupationally
> exposed.  He may well have been a janitor, visitor on a tour, or even a
> company director.
>
> In that case, his dose would be around 400 mSv, below the deterministic
> threshold for hair-loss.
>
> Either way, the numbers don't match, and I also got a chuckle reading that
> this man in "very-serious" condition is at risk of developing cancer
(aren't
> we all?).  It would appear that the company director being quoted slept
> through the acute/chronic exposure lecture.
>
> Brent Rogers
> Manager Radiation Operations Unit
> NSW Environment Protection Authority
> Department of Environment and Conservation
> *+61 2 9995 5986
> *+61 2 9995 6603
> * PO Box A290 Sydney South 1232
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rainer.Facius at dlr.de [mailto:Rainer.Facius at dlr.de]
> Sent: Friday, 7 April 2006 1:35 AM
> To: Jim_Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us; radsafe at radlab.nl
> Subject: AW: [ RadSafe ] News article from Belgium: Worker Critical
> after highradiation dose
>
>
> Jim:
>
> If the numbers quoted were correct than the worker would have received
> 400*20 mSv = 8 Sv effective dose. In this case he would have shown severe
> symptoms of the prodromal syndrome within hours and not some minor effect
> like hair loss after 3 weeks. That and the purported life-threatening
> condition simply do not fit. A European radiation protection expert who
> incidentally was visiting us today thinks that he remembers a dose of 2 Gy
> which would be 100 times the annual limit. Of course at that acute dose a
> significantly increased cancer risk is threatening this man but no
immediate
> early mortality risk - unless it interfered with other health conditions
of
> the worker. If it were not whole but partial body irradiation and the
> multiple of 400 pertained to the limit for the corresponding tissue dose
he
> would at least have suffered from immediate and severe erythema. Again the
> numbers presented simply don't match.
>
> Regards, Rainer
>
> Dr. Rainer Facius
> German Aerospace Center
> Institute of Aerospace Medicine
> Linder Hoehe
> 51147 Koeln
> GERMANY
> Voice: +49 2203 601 3147 or 3150
> FAX:   +49 2203 61970
>
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] Im
Auftrag
> von Jim Hardeman
> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 6. April 2006 16:26
> An: radsafe at radlab.nl
> Betreff: [ RadSafe ] News article from Belgium: Worker Critical after
> highradiation dose
>
> Colleagues *
>
> Does anybody have any additional information about this incident?
>
> Jim Hardeman
> Jim_Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us
>
> ===========
>
> URL =
>
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=24&story_id=29
> 065&name=Worker+critical+after+high+radiation+dose
>
> Worker critical after high radiation dose
> 6 April 2006
> BRUSSELS * A worker at a Wallonian company who was rushed to a Paris
> hospital after being exposed to a high dose of radiation is in an acute,
> life-threatening condition.
> The Charleroi man, aged in his 50s, received within 20 seconds 400 times
the
> amount of radiation permitted in one year.
> The incident dates back to 11 March and investigations are now being
carried
> out to determine why safety procedures failed.
> The man spent 20 seconds in the radiation installation of the Wallonian
firm
> Sterigenics, a Fleurus-based company near Charleroi that sterilises
medical
> equipment.
> Three weeks later, the worker reported to the company doctor because his
> hair started falling out, newspaper 'Het Nieuwsblad' reported on Thursday.
When doctors confirmed a high level of radiation in his body, the man was
> rushed to a specialist Paris hospital.
> Company director Patrick Gourmelon said on Wednesday the man is in a "very
> serious" condition. The man is at risk of developing cancer and there are
> limited medical treatments available.
> Workers usually carry a radiation measuring device and investigations must
> now determine why the worker or his supervisor did not immediately raise
> alarm.
> "Did the dosage meter not work, was it not examined or did the worker not
> have it on" the chief of Belgian nuclear watchdog FANC-AFCN, Jean-Paul
> Samain, said.
>
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>
> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the
> RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
> http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html
>
> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit:
> http://radlab.nl/radsafe/
>
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>
> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the
> RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
> http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html
>
> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit:
> http://radlab.nl/radsafe/
>
>
> This email is intended for the addressee(s) named and may contain
> confidential and/or privileged information.
>
> If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender and then
delete it immediately.  Any views expressed in this email are those of the
individual sender except where the sender expressly and with authority
states them to be the views of the Department of Environment and
Conservation (NSW).
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>
> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html
>
> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>
> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html
>
> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/
>