Re: Spanish emission of cesium 137

["J. J. Rozental" <josrozen@netmedia.net.il>]

At 12:40 AM 6/27/98 -0500, you wrote:
>   If the >source capsule was out of its shielding, there are people who
have been
>irradiated to some high doses.   This could be of the same magnitude as the
>Goiana incident.   Something doesn't seem right!   
>
>
>Tony LaMastra
>alamastra@enter.net
>
>

>   This could be of the same magnitude as the Goiana incident.   Something
doesn't seem right!   
>
>
>Tony LaMastra
>alamastra@enter.net

Tony, 

Absolutely not:

a) Goiania was not an incident, was an accident, the most serious
radiological accident to have occurred to date. Goiania had serious medical
consequences and resulted in four fatalities. 

b) What happen in Spain, really was an incident, no radiological
consequences to public and even to workers, taken into account  the Spanish
Regulatory Authority information at the Member of Congress (see below);

c) According with the Spanish press information El Pais dated of June 30 
http://www.elpais.es/cgi-bin/ELPAIS/vdkw_cgi@1121/xb5adadeb-1790/Search/2556
684/1
the source's activity in the incident of  Acerinox de Algeciras (Cadiz,
Spain)  was roughly estimated in 10 milligram (~ 0.9 Ci) of Cesium Chloride,
while the source in Goiania was 19.26  gram (1375 Ci).
The Goiania Accident was a singular Accident, since it happened in the
Center of the City. Cesium Chloride is highly soluble, and its dispersion
from the broken source capsule into the environment was increased by the
rainfall. It had initially been thought that, because of the high rainfall,
the contamination would either have been washed into the clay soil and
retained or been drained off. This was not the case, however. The high
temperatures dried out the ground and high winds caused resuspension and
dispersion. For some houses, contamination deposited on roofs was the major
contributor to dose rates indoors, and the roof tiles had to be removed.

d) The above activity 10 milligram of Cesium Chloride should  to be
carefully considered since it was a press information. There is not a public
information on this subject from the Regulatory Authority.

e) Last June 30 the Spanish Regulatory Authority Chairman explained to
Member of Congress the Accident, chronology, causes, consequences and
remedial actions, at the present.The complete speech  is available at the
site: http://www.csn.es/dia/dia.html

e) Commentary on the Chairman speech can be found also in the Spanish press
of July 1
http://www.elpais.es/cgi-bin/ELPAIS/vdkw_cgi@1121/xb5adadeb-1790/Search/2556
684/2
 
f) Special point on the Chairman speech was the comment on  illicit
trafficking of radioactive materials, (probably the case) and affirmed the
need to the prevention and to the detection of and response to such
trafficking actions. He presented data on this matter, including in USA. 

g) Finally the Chairman mentions that the Regulatory Authority was in
permanent connection with National and International Organizations,
providing information on the incident. 

h) Nevertheless such  dissemination of information, seem to me that  was not
enough to make the public aware specially on the  exact activity of the
source. This can be learned from the El Pais critique on the Chairman speech.

g) This incident brought again the necessity of improvement by Regulatory
Authorities a  better public communication on nuclear radiation safety
issues, as well as Human Factors and Safety Culture.

i) It will be interesting if an American member of RADSAFER,   birthplace
from Spanish language,  could translate the document to the entire list.

J. J. Rozental <josrozen@netmedia.net.il>
General Emergency Coordinator in the Goiania Accident