RadBall to help with Fukushima nuclear plant clean-up 16 May 2013

An award-winning invention by British chemical engineer Dr Steven Stanley will soon be used to help the clean-up operation at the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan.

The RadBall is around the size of an orange and uses a radiation sensitive polymer that becomes opaque when exposed to radiation. The device helps to identify problem areas, producing a 3-D image of contamination hot spots.

The nuclear meltdown at Fukushima in 2011 spread a substantial amount of radioactive material within the reactor systems of the plant and out into the environment.

The RadBall, which requires no power, will help prevent workers at Fukushima from having to scan the site with handheld detectors, and so reduce the risk of their exposure to radiation.

Dr Stanley started working on his RadBall idea in the mid 2000s. A graduate of the University of Manchester, his efforts were recognised by the IChemE (Institution of Chemical Engineers) in 2008, when he won two awards, including Young Engineer of the Year and the Innovation and Excellence in Health and Safety for the RadBall.

In recent years the RadBall has been developed by Stanley's employer, National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), which has now concluded a commercial arrangement with Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy and TEPCO to use the technology at the Fukushima Daiichi site in Japan.

Brian Tinham

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National Nuclear Laboratory

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