Contamination incident: no radioactive substances outside the research area

In May 2006 an incident took place at the research location in Petten. Two employees of the Nuclear Research Group (NRG) were contaminated by a radioactive substance during activities with a fume cupboard in the radiological laboratory. Fortunately, the health risks turned out to be limited: no radioactive substances were released outside the research area of the laboratory.

Due to an unfortunate combination of events a limited quantity of radioactive strontium was released during activities. Extensive research showed that the health risks for the employees involved were limited (comparable to the risks of a medical examination). The research area of the laboratory was first sealed and thoroughly cleaned. It was also ascertained that no radioactive substances had left the research area, thus constituting no threat for the direct environment. The experiments, which focus on developing new medication, will be moved to the new Jaap Goedkoop Laboratory of NRG.

The incident was reported to the Department of Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards of the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (KFD). The KFD included this incident in their recently published incident report of 2006.

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