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So if this research reactor is similar to a commercial power reactor in that it has a dual closed loop system how did the iodine leak? Was it likely during whatever isolation process to make the medical isotopes?

@Edano backscatter is the term the US TSA uses to describe the xray machines they use at airports. It is a term I never heard in xray tech training in school.

Just found this about the Budapest reactor
Systems and measures to avoid radioactive release. The sealing of the reactor hall was
strengthened to form a quasi-containment area. In addition a recirculation ventilation system was
commissioned which could be activated if the limit of radioactive release would be violated.

are backscatters radioactive ? no, i thouht they use x-rays....

x-rays can be easily stopped. and they only have short length effects, 2 m distance is safe. (at least, that's what i learned)

@dean that is the correct building in Budapest. Gathering up details from that document right now. There was also a word document about the facility posted earlier.

I must rest for now

correction - that is the business offices. :-)

i guess the service people in the airport have a higher risk than the passengers, anyway.

do you know that they luckily will not introduce backscatters in the EU ? too much errors they say. but you can use it "voluntarily", if you want. haha, some people really do that.

Nuclear Event in MultiCountries on Friday, 11 November, 2011 at 15:22 (03:22 PM) UTC.

Updated: Thursday, 17 November, 2011 at 17:10 UTC
Description
Hungary believes the source of low levels of radioactive iodine detected in Europe over the past few weeks was probably an isotope maker in Budapest, the U.N. nuclear agency said on Thursday. Hungary's nuclear authority told the International Atomic Energy Agency that iodine-131 had been released from the Institute of Isotopes Ltd from September 8 to November 16. "The cause of the release is under investigation," the Vienna-based IAEA said in a statement. "The levels of Iodine-131 that have been detected in Europe are extremely low. There is no health concern to the population." Iodine-131, linked to cancer if found in high doses, can contaminate products such as milk and vegetables. The IAEA, the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog, announced on Friday that the traces had been detected in Europe, after it was tipped off by authorities in the Czech Republic. Authorities in Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, France and Poland have measured very low levels of iodine-131 in their atmospheres over the past few days. The Hungarian institute, which produces radioisotopes for healthcare, research and industry, said earlier on Thursday that it had suspended production. Mihaly Lakatos, director of the institute, said that despite the higher than usual emission of the isotope, Hungary could not have been the source of the leakage registered in several European countries over recent weeks. "The amounts of iodine-131 measured in neighboring countries cannot have much to do with this, because the distances involved rule out that the amount we emit could be registered over there," he told Reuters.

However, Jozsef Ronaky, director of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, said it was too early to draw such a firm conclusion. "It cannot be ruled out (that the institute was the source). I consider the opinion of the laboratory premature. Establishing whether the substance detected in other countries was emitted by them requires a thorough investigation," he told Reuters. Ronaky said the body, which has no oversight of the Institute of Isotopes but is the IAEA's point of contact in Hungary, has submitted all relevant Hungarian data to the U.N. nuclear watchdog. "I think it is probably us, that is the Institute of Isotopes, that is the source," he said. Ronaky said he has initiated a thorough inquiry involving the institute and national authorities to explore how potential issues of technology, oversight and communication could be addressed. The Hungarian Medical Officer Service, which is in charge of overseeing the laboratory, could not immediately comment. The Institute of Isotopes is 69-percent owned by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, while the rest is owned by Hungarian private investors. Budapest's envoy to the U.N. agency also said earlier he could not rule out that the lab was the source. The IAEA said that if a person were to breathe in the levels for a whole year, they would receive an annual radiation dose of less than 0.1 microsieverts. In comparison, average annual background radiation is 2,400 microsieverts a year, it said. hisz.rsoe.hu

Edano, where did you get the second half of that article?

so the lab denies ..... or not ?

Compiled info posted to the group site as an update

@Edano due to volume output?

So if it isn't this lab then what?

What I found odd was this place wasn't well publicized as an isotope manufacturer. They made it sound like some tiny college reactor in facility listings and IAEA IIRC didn't list it as an isotope maker.

Gov't not to permit restart of 2 reactors at Genkai plant: Edano

TOKYO, Nov. 17, Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

Gov't checking whether Fukushima plant can remain stable for years

TOKYO, Nov. 17, Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

saitama ?