Level 1 radioactivity incident occurs at Barcelona Hospital

A LEVEL 1 radioactivity incident has occurred at the Bellvitge Hospital in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat in Barcelona

According to a statement from the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), Bellvitge Hospital in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat in Barcelona has suffered a Level 1 radioactivity incident on the International Scale of Nuclear and Radiological Events, as announced this Friday, August 13.

Reportedly, the centre received a vial of a radiopharmaceutical – used in PET diagnostic techniques – that was found to be broken at its base, which was detected when, upon receiving two radioactive packages at the radiopharmacy of the Nuclear Medicine Service, a higher-than-normal dose rate was measured in one of them.

The incident has caused surface contamination of the internal components of the transport package, and of the handling cabin of the receiving facility where the package was opened, with an operator of the receiving facility also being affected.

As CSN pointed out, taking into account the handling time of the package, and its components, it is estimated that the worker has received a dose of about 0.03 milliSievert, a rate “much lower”, than the legal limits established in Europe for exposed workers, which is 20 milliSieverts per year.

The shipper and the carrier of the packages are conducting an “exhaustive analysis of the possible causes of the event”, CSN has concluded, as reported by cadenaser.com.

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