Worker Exceeded Statuary Annual Whole Body Dose Limits


Print View Posted on: 15 August 2024

Event Date: 09 March 2023 Event Type: Radiation Source
Event Location: Germany, Lower Saxony / Company for Material Testing INES Rating: 3 (Final)

On 09.03.2023, an employee of a company carried out a weld inspection using an X-ray device. To align a workpiece to be tested, the worker left his workstation disregarding the radiation protection warning measures, which consist of a barrier rope, a flashing warning light and the warning signal of a radiation protection dosimeter which measured the local dose rate. The workers head came into the beam of the X-ray device in operation for a duration of about 2 minutes. An effective whole body dose, an equivalent dose for the lens, and an equivalent dose for the skin were estimated based on a reconstruction of the likely scenario. The effective whole body dose was set to 230 mSv and the equivalent dose for the lens of the eye was set to 546 mSv by the authority. An expert inspection of the X-ray device determined that the equipment was technically in order. The cause of the incident was determined to be human error.

INES Rating: 3 - Serious incident (Final) as per 07 August 2024
Release beyond authorized limits? No
Overexposure of a member of the public? No
Overexposure of a worker? Yes

Contamination spread within the facility? No
Damage to radiological barriers (incl. fuel damage) within the facility? No

Degradation of Defence In-Depth No

Person injured physically or casualty? No
Is there a continuing problem? No

Dr Björn Becker
Gesellschaft für Anlagen und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH

bjoern.becker@grs.de
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