Wednesday June 15, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR: A radiopharmaceutical company in Selangor has been ordered to stop operation and its premises sealed for investigations after radioactive materials were detected on four of its workers.
The order came from the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili in a press statement yesterday.
He added that the radioactive contamination was detected by AELB through a Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM) system at 11.30am on June 2 after the four workers went to the AELB office.
“The radiation reading on one of the workers exceeded more than 400 times the normal reading (the normal reading is 0.5 micro Sievert/hour),” he said in a press statement here yesterday.
He also said the four workers had gone through the decontamination process with three of them at the National Radiological Emergency Centre at the AELB head office in Dengkil.
The other worker, who was directly involved with the radiopharmaceutical leakage, was decontaminated at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, he added.
Ongkili said an AELB team also monitored the company premises on the same day and found the contamination there at more than 100 times the normal reading.
“The contaminated area has been cordoned off to ensure the radiation does not spread and to prevent radioactive particles from leaving the place,” he said.
The company was also ordered to review its work procedure and to submit remedial action to prevent the incident from happening again. - Bernama
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/15/nation/8904488&sec=nation
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