Sellafield contaminations - POOR press

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

The following article was posted by the Reuters News Service. It is 
very disturbing that contamination issues are constantly posed to be 
"serious",  when in fact, the majority of contaminations are due to 
knowlegeable radiation workers who happen to be working in a 
contaminated area. Sometimes, regardless of the actions taken to 
reduce these "personnel contaminations", workers do in fact get 
contaminated. The public, when viewing these articles, would assume, 
correctly so, based on the news portrayal, that contaminations are a 
"rare and dangerous" occurence. This is news emotionalism at its 
worse. The utility is going to be on the defensive, as noted in the 
quote from the BNFL spokesperson. Yes, contaminations are not wanted. 
Yes, unnecessary radiation exposure is not wanted. BUT, this is part 
of the business, and the workers understand that they will in fact, 
be exposed to both radiation and the potential for contamination. 
These articles do not help, and only agitate an already restless 
public, who only knows the minisnformation they see in the press.
------------
    LONDON  - Six workers at Britain's Sellafield  
nuclear fuel reprocessing plant were contaminated by radioactive dust
in an accident, British Nuclear Fuels Plc (BNFL) said Monday. 
  All six were allowed to return home after being cleared by  
medical staff at the plant in Cumbria, northwestern England. 
  The incident Sunday was not serious and no radioactivity  
escaped from the plant, but an investigation was underway, BNFL 
said. 
  ``There was a release of an amount of radioactivity into the  
local environment where people were working,'' a BNFL spokesman 
said. 
  ``It was a fairly minor event but because of the personal  
contamination we take it seriously.'' 
  The accident happened in part of a plant used to reprocess  
fuel from Britain's first-generation Magnox nuclear reactors. 
The plant where the incident happened had earlier been closed 
down while it was being refurbished. 
  Workers were dismantling a dissolver charge machine, used to  
suspend spent fuel rods in nitric acid so that they can be 
dissolved in the first stage of reprocessing. 

-------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3149
  
E-Mail: sandyfl@ix.netcom.com
        sperle@icnpharm.com

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