Toy’s Scrap & Salvage Corporation in Eau Claire, Wisconsin notified the Radiation Protection Section of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (WDHS) that they had received an orphan radioactive source on August 5, 2008. Toy’s secured the radioactive scrap material in a locked storage location pending assistance from WDHS.
On August 7, 2008, Nuclear Engineers from WDHS conducted a radiation exposure and contamination survey of the scrap material at Toy’s. The maximum radiation exposure from the radioactive scrap was determined to be 500 µRem/hour. WDHS also determined the source to be Radium 226. WDHS Nuclear Engineers attempted to recover the radioactive source which was located inside a crushed drum, however they were unsuccessful. The source was triple bagged, labeled as radioactive, and secured from unauthorized access. WDHS screened the area where they had been working. Residual contamination was removed from the area, double bagged, and secured with the source.
WDHS requested assistance with the surveying, packaging, transport and disposal of the orphan radioactive material. Through a series of discussions in August and September, US EPA ERB agreed to assist with this removal.
On November 17, 2008, ADCOM Express picked up the radioactive material for transport to ADCO Services’ facility in Tinley Park, IL. US EPA and WDHS representatives oversaw the removal of the material. US EPA confirmed that the material was Radium 226 and that there was not any residual contamination in the area where the source had been handled and stored.
