The Cattenom nuclear power plant in France (22 kilometres from Luxembourg City) declared a Level 2 incident last week after detecting a radioactive particle on a worker’s skin. The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) was formally notified of the event on 12 June.
The contamination occurred on 9 June when an EDF contractor working in Reactor Building 3 was found to have a radioactive particle on their cheek during routine exit checks. Plant officials confirmed the exposure happened during the installation of lead shielding mats.
“The worker received immediate decontamination treatment, and the radioactive particle was successfully removed,” the ASN reported. While the localised exposure exceeded annual dose limits for a small skin area, the worker’s full-body radiation exposure remained within safety thresholds.
The incident was classified as Level 2 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), which ranges from 0 to 7 in severity. “The operator promptly launched an investigation to determine the contamination source,” the ASN noted. Subsequent radiological checks in the affected areas showed no abnormalities.
Additional inspections conducted by the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR) on 13 June also returned negative results, confirming no further contamination risks.
