Lyon hospital worker contaminated by radioactive substance in level 2 incident

A hospital employee in Lyon, France, was contaminated with a drop of lutetium-177, a radioactive substance used in cancer therapy, in an incident classified as level 2 on the international nuclear event scale.

The event occurred on May 13 at the Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL) in Bron. During a procedure within a "protected enclosure," a "plumbed vial" containing lutetium-177 accidentally ruptured, exposing the worker to a small amount of the radioactive material.

The Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radioprotection (ASNR) stated that the worker received the radioactive drop "all at once," exceeding the annual regulatory limit for occupational exposure. The hospital immediately initiated protocols for the decontamination of the individual and the affected premises.

The ASNR has classified the incident as level 2 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), which ranges from 0 to 7. While this level signifies an "incident" and indicates a significant failure in radiation protection measures within a hospital setting, it is far below the severity of major accidents like Chernobyl or Fukushima, which were rated level 7.

The hospital has conducted a structured analysis of the incident and is implementing corrective and preventive measures. The ASNR will conduct an inspection to ensure the effectiveness of these actions. Despite the incident, the ASNR's 2025 annual report noted that radiation protection in the medical field generally remains satisfactory, though it highlighted recurring fragilities and degraded situations, including dose limit overruns for practitioners and higher-than-expected doses for patients in certain radiological procedures.