An EDF employee contaminated at the Cruas-Meysse nuclear power plant – archyworldys

An employee of Electricité de France (EDF) was contaminated during a recent maintenance operation at the Cruas-Meysse plant (Ardèche), his radiological exposure having been greater than the annual regulatory limit, we learned. Saturday, September 4 with the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN).

The gendarme of the sector classified the incident at level 2 (out of 7) of the international scale of nuclear events (INES scale). This type of incident is quite rare, only a few cases occur each year.

On August 24, two workers checked, in the reactor 2 building of this plant, the tightness of the air supply to the pneumatic valves. During the check carried out at the exit of the controlled area, contamination was detected in the neck of one of the employees and the radioactive particle was removed, reports the ASN, confirming information from the released Dauphiné.

Origin of contamination unknown

However, the radiological exposure of the agent was above the annual regulatory limit set for each square centimeter of skin, but “Without consequence for the health of the employee”, according to EDF, quoted by the regional daily. The employee will nevertheless be subject to medical monitoring by occupational medicine and may not work for twelve months in a nuclear zone, according to Franceinfo.

“Despite the investigations carried out on the route followed by the worker, the areas or points of contamination which may have been the source of this contamination could not be determined”, informs ASN on its website. An incident analysis report is expected within two months.

This contamination incident is the fourth since the end of July in France, according to Franceinfo, which mentioned the case on Saturday. The previous ones took place in Cattenom (Moselle), Fessenheim (Haut-Rhin) and Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux (Loir-et-Cher).