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A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

nrc.gov

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Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#111

Post by ramchip »

arthurcolle wrote: post #108

300 CPM in hair after decontamination is a massive red flag. If this is from systemic circulation, could be GBq-level total body activity. The non-emergency classification is bureaucratic nonsense. This is an internal contamination event with unknown but potentially severe consequences.

From: https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-nuclear-plant-worker-fell-...

> According to federal reports, the contractor ingested some of the reactor water before being yanked out, scrubbed down, and checked for radiation. They walked away with only minor injuries and about 300 counts per minute of radiation detected in their hair.

> That sounds like a lot, but apparently it isn't terribly serious. He underwent a decontamination scrubdown and was back on the job by Wednesday.

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#112

Post by anothernewdude »

robocat wrote: post #84
tt_dev wrote: post #10

This is bad but cavity water radiation is usually very weak. Ingestion could be bad but its not like he swallowed a uranium isotope which would be catastrophic.

FYI: the primary hazard from acute, high-dose uranium ingestion is chemical toxicity leading to acute kidney failure (nephrotoxicity), not radiation.

Fuck me, is there anything fun that isn't nephrotoxic?

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#113

Post by dudidn »

“worker fell off roof installing solar panels” — just getting ahead of the ‘anti-nuclear’ folks on here. Energy installations all come with risks, albeit nuclear long tail accidents are mutli-generational and externalised to people not involved in managing the risk

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#114

Post by arthurcolle »

arthurcolle wrote: post #108

300 CPM in hair after decontamination is a massive red flag. If this is from systemic circulation, could be GBq-level total body activity. The non-emergency classification is bureaucratic nonsense. This is an internal contamination event with unknown but potentially severe consequences.

Litvinenko had about 10 MBq in his body and died in 3 weeks.

This might be 500+ MBq (0.5 GBq). Yeah it's a different isotope, but clearly not a "non-emergency"

EDIT: (after 1 hr) - Litvinenko dose was 4GBq - I was wrong by 3 orders of magnitude. My bad

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#116

Post by arthurcolle »

anothernewdude wrote: post #112
robocat wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI: the primary hazard from acute, high-dose uranium ingestion is chemical toxicity leading to acute kidney failure (nephrotoxicity), not radiation.

Fuck me, is there anything fun that isn't nephrotoxic?

Menu tonight is neurotoxic or nephrotoxic

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#117

Post by malfist »

arthurcolle wrote: post #108

300 CPM in hair after decontamination is a massive red flag. If this is from systemic circulation, could be GBq-level total body activity. The non-emergency classification is bureaucratic nonsense. This is an internal contamination event with unknown but potentially severe consequences.

Can you quantify why you're better qualified to assess risk from this brief report than the nuclear experts on site that know the full picture?

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#118

Post by [deleted] »

ramchip wrote: post #111
arthurcolle wrote: post #108

300 CPM in hair after decontamination is a massive red flag. If this is from systemic circulation, could be GBq-level total body activity. The non-emergency classification is bureaucratic nonsense. This is an internal contamination event with unknown but potentially severe consequences.

From: https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-nuclear-plant-worker-fell-... > According to federal reports, the contractor ingested some of the reactor water before being yanked out, scrubbed down, and checked for radiation. They walked away with only minor injuries and about 300 counts per minute of radiation detected in their hair. > That sounds like a lot, but apparently it isn't terribly serious. He underwent a deconta…

[deleted]

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#119

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

malfist wrote: post #117
arthurcolle wrote: post #108

300 CPM in hair after decontamination is a massive red flag. If this is from systemic circulation, could be GBq-level total body activity. The non-emergency classification is bureaucratic nonsense. This is an internal contamination event with unknown but potentially severe consequences.

Can you quantify why you're better qualified to assess risk from this brief report than the nuclear experts on site that know the full picture?

Quantify? What kind of number would satisfy your request?

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#120

Post by arthurcolle »

malfist wrote: post #117
arthurcolle wrote: post #108

300 CPM in hair after decontamination is a massive red flag. If this is from systemic circulation, could be GBq-level total body activity. The non-emergency classification is bureaucratic nonsense. This is an internal contamination event with unknown but potentially severe consequences.

Can you quantify why you're better qualified to assess risk from this brief report than the nuclear experts on site that know the full picture?

I learned a few things from my father along the way. I can share my notes if you'd like

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Coll%C3%A9?wprov=sfti1

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