Small radioactive leak at Norwegian nuclear reactor 

 

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Norwegian authorities say there has been a small leak of radioactive iodine at a nuclear reactor in Halden, in southern Norway.

 

Officials said Tuesday that the leak posed no risk to workers at the plant or the environment.

 

Plant officials said a technical failure during the handling of fuel led to the release of radioactive Iodine-131 and -132 to the reactor hall. They said staff were immediately evacuated and "no employees have received any radioactive doses of significance."

 

They said the situation is under control and that local authorities were informed.

 

The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority said Tuesday that based on its information, the leak was small and "will not have any consequences for health or the environment outside the facility."

 

The Halden reactor is used for research purposes.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-10-26

If it is small leak, then it doesn't matter; Right ?

22 hours ago, bark said:

If it is small leak, then it doesn't matter; Right ?

Norway don`t use nuclear power. (Well, unless it`s imported) This reactor is just a small one used for research.

It was not running when the leak occurred as it was down for maintenance. No harm done

49 minutes ago, Eagleizer said:

Norway don`t use nuclear power. (Well, unless it`s imported) This reactor is just a small one used for research.

It was not running when the leak occurred as it was down for maintenance. No harm done

Nuclear Research = radiation. Small amount can cause cancer. So yes there is potential for harm to someone

or some thing. And they will never clean it all up.

On 10/27/2016 at 8:52 AM, bark said:

Nuclear Research = radiation. Small amount can cause cancer. So yes there is potential for harm to someone

or some thing. And they will never clean it all up.

 

Risk of harm is evaluated by the strength and time of dosage. If

the total is below harmful levels, it`s harmless. Easy as that.

 

There is radiation everywhere at all times. Just take a trip

outside and you are bombarded with a lot more cosmic radiation

than inside. Still, unless you have checked your house, the radiation

in your house may be far above safe levels due to Radon gas, in 

that case, going outside might be safer after all. Staying too long

in the sun might be harmful, it`s all because of radiation, although 

radiation comes in different "forms".

 

Nuclear radiation is used in hospitals every day.  It is used kill

cancer and is also injected into your body to locate the cancer

in the first place. Safe levels are safe levels, and safe use is safe

use.. In fact, hospitals are one of, if not the major source of

nuclear waste, which may be more harmful than any other spill

or waste, because it is so wide spread. 

 

The nuclear reactor in Halden does research on safety among

other. There is no reason for them to say it was a harmless spill 

if it was not. Norway is not like the old Soviet. Every spill have to

be reported by law, which is why it hit the news.

 

If you are concerned about radiation, you should check where you

live for Radon gas which is  far more common and dangerous than

a small spill in controlled environment. Radon gas is common

everywhere, and it`s the total amount of dosage over time that

decide if it`s dangerous or not, measured in mSv/yr.

 

Quote:

" The highest level of natural background radiation recorded

is on a Brazilian beach: 800 mSv/yr, but people don’t live there." 

:/ 

As comparison, suggested threshold for maintaining evacuation

after nuclear accident is 700 mSv/yr.

 

There is a lot of interesting information about natural and man

made radiation shown in nice charts here, including safety levels

and some interesting statistics about relation between natural

radiation and cancer in the population:

 

http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/radiation-and-health/nuclear-radiation-and-health-effects.aspx

 

 

Cheers :)