Lucas Heights nuclear medicine production halts after workers exposed to unsafe radiation

Production has stopped at a newly opened nuclear medicine facility at Sydney's Lucas Heights after workers there were exposed to an unsafe dose of radiation.

Key points:

• Contamination was detected outside a container holding Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99)
• ANSTO says the exposure is equivalent to a conventional radiation therapy treatment
• It comes less than two weeks after the facility was granted a licence to produce Mo-99

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) said three workers were "attended to by radiation protection personnel" after contamination was detected on the outside of a container holding 42 millilitres of Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) on Friday morning.

"Initial indications are that two of these workers received a radiation dose above the statutory limit," a spokesperson said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-24/lucas-heights-nuclear-facility-workers-exposed-to-radiation/11242278