CBRN event in Korea, Republic of on Wed 29th April 2026

Regarding the incident of a radiation source coming loose at a nondestructive testing worksite in South Chungcheong, it was confirmed that one on-site worker's hand exposure dose exceeded the annual dose limit. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said that while investigating the radiation source detachment incident that occurred on Apr. 29 at company A's nondestructive testing worksite in South Chungcheong, the dose assessment for one worker found the equivalent dose to the hand to be at least 1.3 Sv (sievert). That far exceeds the annual dose limit for the hand of 0.5 Sv. The incident occurred at about 4:50 p.m. on Apr. 29 during an outdoor gas pipeline radiographic inspection. Because the remote control of the gamma irradiator did not operate properly, the radiation source, selenium-75 with an activity of 1.4 TBq (terabecquerel), became stuck outside the shielding container. Company A reported to the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission that the radiation source became stuck outside the irradiator on the day of the incident but was retrieved immediately. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission dispatched a Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) investigation team to the site that day to conduct an initial probe, including the sequence of events and response measures, worker interviews, verification of direct-reading dosimeter values, and an urgent readout request for personal dosimeters.