Grade two nuclear event at Tornio smelter

Outokumpu (OMX:OUT1V) and Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority STUK have said that a source of radiation which ended up in Tornio melting furnace has exposed four meltshop employees to a minor amount of radiation. One of the workers was potentially exposed to approximately ten millisieverts of radiation, which is below the average radiation dose limit is 20 millisieverts per annum over a five year period and the annual maximum of 50 millisieverts.

The radioactive element was identified as americium which is used in things like smoke detectors, spectrometers and other application requiring high sensitivity. STUK says that this event causes no danger to people outside the smelter. Outokumpu will conduct follow-up measurements at the site over the weekend.