Four nuclear incidents classified as Level 1 have occurred in Belgium this year, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) announced on Monday.
Level 1 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) means there was no impact on the population, workers or the environment. This level of incident is considered an anomaly that requires further monitoring.
In July, a radiochemist at the company IBA was exposed to ionising radiation while handling a radioisotope at the Cyclotron Research Centre at the University of Liège. The annual dose limits for hands were exceeded.
On 7 August, the transfer system from the storage tank to one of the three diesel generators of the Doel 4 reactor failed to operate due to a mounting error identified during an inspection a few weeks earlier.
On 4 October, a worker was briefly exposed to radiation from a radioactive source used during an inspection. The radiation dose received did not exceed the legal limit set for the public.
On 29 November, a limited amount of radioactive liquid spread in various rooms and areas of AZ Groeninge Hospital in Kortrijk. The leaked liquid was safely disposed of.
The Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) stated that it has monitored all these incidents and taken the necessary measures to prevent their recurrence.
