CBRN event in Romania on Sat 30th June 2001

In august 2000, the Commercial Society S.C. Forever SRL who is the owner of furnaces 3 and 4, started to decommission furnaces 3 and 4, and finalized the decommissioning of furnace no. 3 in June 2001. All this activities were made without Regulatory authorization. The debris remained in the perimeter (on-site) of Forever SRL. The furnace no. 3 contained in the perimeter wall 38 small radioactive sources Co-60+Ag-110m installed in 1985, with initial activities between 10-200 mCi. Also, the furnace no. 4 contains in the perimeter wall 32 small radioactive sources Co-60+Ag-110m installed in 1985, with initial activities between 10-500 mCi. The dismantling of furnace no. 4 has been stopped in 2001 through Regulatory Body intervention. The measurement performed on-site by Regulatory Body inspection team found gamma radiation fields 0.5-430 uSv/h, with a maximum 4mSv/h at surface of some debris bricks. The spectrometry analyses showed the presence of gamma radiation generated by Co-60. Due to short half-life, Ag-110m completely desintegrated. No workers contamination and health effects investigations have been found. The restricted area was set up around contaminated area contained debris and furnace no.4. Also the Police Departament was informed about this, in order to perform criminal rerearch. The Romanian Regulatory Authority dispose transportation only the part of debris which is radioactive at Radioactve Waste Treatment Station of IFIN-HH (Nuclear Physics Research Institute). The decommissioning and transport shall be made by firms authorized and qualified by Romanian Regulatory Authority.