Wednesday, 15 May 2013 09:08

NNL to help clean up Fukushima

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NNL's RadBall - a radiation detection deviceHitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd (HGNE) is to use of the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory's RadBall technology to help in the cleanup programme at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi site in Japan.

RadBall has been selected for potential use in mapping the radiation levels in parts of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, and identifying the locations of the major contamination hot-spots.

The NNL technology is based on the use of a radiation-sensitive material to analyse the extent and location of radioactive contamination within confined spaces. Developed over the past several years, it is small and does not require any external power supply.

The potential application of RadBall to the Fukushima Daiichi cleanup effort was first highlighted during a visit and seminar - organised by UK Trade & Investment - for UK nuclear companies to visit Japan in October 2011, held at the British Embassy in Tokyo.

"The cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi site is one of the major challenges facing the global nuclear industry at present," said NNL's managing director Paul Howarth.

"We are looking forward to working with HGNE and TEPCO to better understand the details of the site and to help them to evaluate the capabilities of RadBall," he added.

Read 1892 times Last modified on Tuesday, 23 March 2021 13:50