Last April 26th, Wednesday, a worrying discovery took place at the Chemistry Institute of the Federal University of Goiás (UFG), in Campus Samambaia, in Goiânia: a team that was preparing the warehouse for renovations found a fragment of nickel-63, a highly radioactive.
According to the university, the element was inside obsolete equipment, wrapped in a lead plate. Also according to the UFG, “the material was handled safely by the technicians, who were correctly equipped with the safety equipment provided for carrying out the work”.
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As soon as the material was discovered, the university management contacted the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN). According to the deputy director of the Institute of Chemistry, Danielle Cangussu, CNEN provided guidance and visited the site the following morning.
In an interview given to TV Anhanguera, Alex Borges, who is a technologist at CNEN, confirmed that the commission carried out the necessary tests on the material, and, according to him, it does not represent risks to the health of those involved in the discovery.
“If the person opens it, ingests it somehow, it can be dangerous. But as it did not occur, there is no risk of any kind”, said the specialist.
The entire analysis of the nickel-63 fragment was carried out at Abadia de Goiânia, where the material was also properly disposed of. In a note sent to the press, the UFG highlights that “the physical integrity of the technicians who had contact with the place, how much of the entire UFG community is preserved”.
“The UFG Institute of Chemistry informs that yesterday, 4/26, during a scheduled inspection work to prepare the Warehouse of the IQ to carry out a renovation of the physical space, laboratory technicians found a material considered radioactive. The element was properly packaged, wrapped in a lead plate, as per technical guidance for storage. The material was handled safely by the technicians, who were correctly equipped with the safety equipment provided for carrying out this work.
Faced with this fact, the Board of the Institute of Chemistry contacted the Regional Commission of Sciences Nucleares (CNEN – Regional Goiás) who provided the first guidelines and visited the site today for the morning. As this is an unusable material, it will be disposed of correctly, under the guidance of CNEN.
It is worth noting that all procedures were and are being carried out with maximum safety and there were no complications of any kind that cause concern. The physical integrity of the technicians who had contact with the place, how much of the entire UFG community is preserved.”
Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of acting professionally as a Content Writer for the Web, writing articles in different niches and different formats.
