A radiation exposure incident occurred during treatment at Samsung Seoul Hospital, roughly three months after a similar incident at the National Cancer Center. The recent event has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission’s measures to manage and oversee radiation equipment. The Commission announced on the 3rd that it has begun investigating the incident, which involved a linear accelerator used for cancer treatment in the hospital.
According to the Commission, on the night of the 2nd, after completing a patient’s treatment with a linear accelerator, Samsung Seoul Hospital realized that a patient’s guardian had remained in the treatment room. The hospital promptly reported this to the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) and the Commission. At the time of reporting, there were no noticeable symptoms of radiation exposure in the affected individual, who had been approximately 2 meters away from the linear accelerator during the treatment.
The Commission stated it would conduct a detailed investigation of the incident with KINS, assess the level of radiation exposure, and verify any potential violations of nuclear safety regulations by the hospital.