Radiation Safety
Melting Incidents Involving Radioactive Sources in Scrap Metal Smelters
A programme for metal scrap smelters and scrap suppliers: the types of radioactive material that can arrive with scrap, the nature, scenarios and consequences of inadvertent melting accidents illustrated by documented cases, the defence-in-depth strategy of prevention, detection and response, management of monitoring systems and alarm levels, response and waste management after an accident, and the regulatory aspects. Offered as a one-day workshop or a full five-day programme.
Overview
About the programme
Duration
1 day (workshop) or 5 days (full programme)
Delivery
Training hall · Virtual · At your premises
Language
Arabic or English
Objectives
Training outcomes
- Identify the radioactive materials that threaten the metal melting industry and their sources: orphan sources, devices containing sources and NORM-contaminated equipment.
- Understand the behaviour of radionuclides during melting and their distribution between metal, slag and dust.
- Apply the defence-in-depth strategy: prevention in procurement, detection at the gate and during handling, and response.
- Manage the radiation monitoring system: setting alarm levels, periodic checks and records.
- Carry out the procedures for handling and investigating an alarm, and respond to a melting accident and manage its waste.
- Understand the regulatory obligations and reporting to the regulator.
Content
What the programme covers
Day 1: radiation and the scrap cycle
- Basics of radiation and radiation protection.
- The metal scrap cycle and industry, and radiation risk in high-temperature thermal industries.
- Types and sources of radioactive material in scrap: sources from nuclear gauges, industrial radiography and medical devices, and NORM-contaminated equipment.
Day 2: melting accidents and radionuclide behaviour
- The nature, scenarios and health, environmental and economic consequences of inadvertent melting accidents.
- Radionuclide behaviour during melting: caesium-137 volatilises into dust and fumes, cobalt-60 stays in the metal, and uranium, thorium and americium move into the slag.
- Documented cases and their lessons, including the melting of a caesium-137 source at a steel plant in Spain in 1998.
Day 3: prevention and detection
- Defence in depth: the lines of prevention, detection and response.
- Prevention: supply conditions, checking scrap at its source and supplier awareness.
- Detection: vehicle portal monitors, crane detectors, hand-held instruments, and checks of dust, slag and metal samples.
- Alarm levels and setting them relative to background, and false alarms.
Day 4: alarms, investigation and emergencies
- Alarm procedures: isolation, verification and locating the source.
- The investigation process and documentation.
- Response to a melting accident: shutdown, cordon, survey, notification and protection of workers.
- Management during the emergency and the steps that follow it.
Day 5: waste and regulatory aspects
- Managing radioactive waste after a melting accident: contaminated dust, slag, metal and furnace linings.
- Regulatory and administrative aspects: the requirements of the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission, and the International Atomic Energy Agency guide SSG-17.
- Improving the management of the monitoring process in the facility, summary and recommendations, followed by the assessment.
Who it is for
Target audience
Managers of iron and steel, aluminium and copper smelters and their production and safety supervisors, operators of radiation portal monitors, scrap suppliers and scrap yards, and radiation protection officers in these facilities.
Method
Delivery method
Lectures, case studies of documented accidents, discussion of the defence-in-depth strategy, and exercises on alarm and investigation procedures. The one-day workshop covers radiation basics, melting accidents, the components of the monitoring system, defence in depth, alarm levels, and alarm, investigation and emergency procedures. Delivered in a training room or at the facility, in Arabic or English.
Questions
FAQ
What is the difference between the workshop and the full programme?
The workshop is one day for monitoring operators and production supervisors and focuses on the monitoring system, alarm levels and alarm and emergency procedures. The full programme runs five days and adds radionuclide behaviour during melting, prevention in procurement, waste management after an accident and the regulatory aspects.
Can our facility’s monitoring procedures be reviewed during the programme?
Yes. When the programme is delivered at the facility, its detection points, alarm levels and approved response procedures can be reviewed and discussed against what the programme presents.
A programme tailored to your organisation
The duration and topics of the programme are adjusted to the organisation's needs, and it is delivered at its site, in a training hall arranged by the Center, or virtually.