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Radioactive material found at Spanish ironwork
MADRID (AFP) Aug 13, 2003
 Spain's nuclear national security council (CSN) said Wednesday it had detected nuclear material at an ironworks in the northern coastal city of Gijon.

Members of the CSN's technical radiological protection department who inspected the site Tuesday found 150 to 200 tonnes of triturated metal giving off a radiation count of between 50 and 400 microSievert per hour.

Natural radiation levels in the northern Asturias region are around 0.12 microSievert per hour.

The unusually high count was detected in a lorry about to leave the site.

The CSN said the firm carried out checks in accordance with expert recommendations to ensure the safe confinement of contaminated material.

A local councillor working for the regional environmental authority said the company was unaware of the material's origin.

The councillor, Dulce Gallego, added local people had no reason to be worried as the material "neither poses any kind of risk to inhabitants of Gijon, nor to those in neighbouring areas nor to workers at the firm."

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