Radiation loss: The environment has been decontaminated

In the house with radioactive material, the radiation dose is only 0.4 Micro Sivert; about twice the font level of the environment. In addition to sidewalks and roadways, the level of radiation in an almost normal environment - Mr. Ngo Dang Nhan, Director of Department of Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Control said on June 6.

The contaminated house is gradually returning to normal, the technical workers are clearing the house to a normal state.Photo Ngoc Huyen .

On May 26, the Institute of Radiation Technology rarely lost a white chemical box containing the white powdered Eu-152, with a mass of 54.8 milligrams, contained in a quartz amp; and place in a tinplate with a diameter of 12 cm, 15 cm high. The radioactivity of this substance is now 14 milliamperes.

According to an expert of the Department of Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Control, this radioactive isotope is used to mark in research on rare earths. This type of radioactive isotope was produced in the Dalat nuclear reactor in 1995.

Find out right time.

10:30 am on May 31, after the radioactive box was stolen, the Institute of Rare Radiation Technology collaborated with Public Security 17 to detect the stolen object and find the hiding place.

Earlier, in the process of repairing warehouses in the Institute of Rare Radiation Technology, a worker had stolen this iron box and sold it to a sister who specializes in buying and selling foreign currencies in Nam Dinh, currently residing at 628, Bach Dang Street, Hanoi.

This iron box weighs 7 kg and sells . 25,000 VND!

Eu-152 plays gamma rays

Europium was discovered by chemist Carl Mosander in 1843. It belongs to a group of soft metals, silver and is the most active element in the group of rare earth elements. It rarely exists in free form, but mainly in compound form. It is estimated that there are about 150,000 tons of Europium in nature and mainly concentrated in large mines of China and America.
In terms of chemical properties, it is very tarnish when stored in the environment and in the room temperature, flammable at temperatures of about 150-180 degrees C and very easy to react with water. In addition, it also has the characteristic of attracting neutrons (a kind of neutral particles).
Europium is used in nuclear reactor controls due to its neutron-attracting properties and the Europium phosphorus compound used in TV light tubes to create bright red colors and catalysts for activating the reactors. 3. Chemium phosphium is also used to make mercury lamps to use for street lights to get more natural light. And the radioactive isotope Eu-152 emits gamma radiation, with a half-life of 13.5 years (ie after 13.5 years, its activity is halved). Gamma rays can destroy living cells in the body and cause dangerous effects on human health.

After the purchase, the scrap buyer . smashed the box into scrap for resale! But when it struck, the box broke into two parts and there were three pegs inside with a little white powder falling to the floor. The outer casing was dislodged and fell out of a beautiful black metal layer.

The buyer of the scrap took the magnet to try it but there was no sign. Thinking that it is black copper (a precious metal), it should be kept for sale, and sold only the box.

When things are discovered, people turn on . It's radioactive and they can emit radiation that affects people's health.

Quickly intervene, thoroughly remove radiation

On June 5, Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute sent Ms. Hoa (scrap buyer) and all her family to a health examination at the Military Institute and Military Tumors - Department of Military Medicine. Military Institute of Medicine and Tumors, currently, has not yet discovered the health of those in Hoa's family affected. However, the Institute will continue to monitor the health status of Ms. Hoa's family.

According to Ngo Dang Nhan, the dose that Ms Hoa has to bear is up to 5 mSv (Mili Sivert - the unit for measuring radiation dose).

In case Ms. Hoa lives 24 hours continuously for five days from May 26 to May 30, this irradiation dose is still acceptable according to Vietnamese Standard TCVN 6866: 2001 for people in the area. .

Immediately after discovering the incident, the technical units have carried out the cleaning and quarantining work of the house 628 Bach Dang, collecting all radioactive-stick items and digging all radioactive soil to the warehouse. storage of radioactive waste from the Institute of Radiation Technology. Only technical staff comes in and must wear clothes to wear masks as prescribed.

At the same time, the technical staff checked the level of contamination at two adjacent houses (numbers 626 and 6030). The results showed that the two houses showed no signs of contamination.

By 11h on 5/6, the entire area of ​​the street and sidewalk has been returned to its normal state. Inside the house of 628, the environment is gradually returning to normal. The radioactivity is only 0.4 mSv (Micro Sivert-unit measuring radiation dose), which is about twice as high as the environmental radiation level in normal conditions.

Discipline people to lose radiation

On June 5, the Department of Radiation Control and Safety sent a written explanation to the local government, where the house was contaminated to explain the incident and the extent of the impact.

Mr. Ngo Dang Nhan, Director of the Department of Radiation Control and Safety, said that the radioactive source has a low intensity and small volume, so the level of harm is not too serious.

However, Mr. Nhan said the incident of losing the radioactive source recently caused confusion for the people and affected the international integration relations today. In the world, there is a tendency to strengthen the security of radioactive sources to prevent terrorists from using radioactive sources to make dirty bombs. Therefore, the governing body will resolutely strictly handle the units and individuals that have caused the incident of losing radioactive sources as above and causing unfortunate consequences.

According to an expert of the Department of Radiation Control and Safety, the Institute of Rare Radiation Technology, the unit to take radioactive materials was responsible for the entire cost of repairing the house and compensating for contaminated items in the house. Ms. Hoa.

In the next few days, there will be results of reprimand, discipline or job severance for some officials responsible for managing this radioactive source.

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