AN IRRADIATION EVENT

There was an irradiation incident on June 15, 2007 involving, a radiation therapist at the radiation therapy centre Georges François Leclerc at Dijon, France. This event occurred during the treatment of a patient in radiation therapy. The irradiation of the patient was started as a radiation therapist was still present in the treatment room. The irradiation was interrupted in emergency after around ten seconds. The radiation therapist (occupational worker) who was staying near the accelerator has been exposed to a part of the radiation beam delivered to the patient. An assessment of the dose received by the radiation therapist could confirm that the dose received was in excess of the annual regulatory dose limit allowed for a worker of 20 mSv, the effective dose received was about 30 mSv. No health effects are expected for this person from this exposure. Investigation of the incident is being performed to determine the chronology and causes of the incident and to assess the corrective actions taken by the centre. It has been found that the incident resulted from human errors and a lack of proper procedure.

It is reported that the centre has taken immediate corrective administrative measures and committed itself to perform an in-depth risk identification analysis. Due to the overrun of one of the regulatory exposure limits (effective dose in excess of the yearly limit of 20 mSv), the Nuclear Safety Authority of France (ASN) ASN rates this incident at level 2 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. – Source IAEA News