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 determined that the material was radioactive using a Ludlum Model 3 survey meter with a sodium iodine probe. 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 using a Bicron µRem meter. WDHS also determined the source to be Radium 226 using an Exploranium GR-135. 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 used a Ludlum Model 12 with Pancake GM probes to screen 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, OSC Clayton and Region 5 Health Physicist Gene Jablonowski met WDHS Nuclear Engineers Jason Hunt and Chris Timmerman at Toy’s Scrap. The secured trailer where the orphan source had been stored was screened by HP Jablonowski using a Ludlum 2241 with a 43-90 Alpha Scintillator Detector. Less than 1 count per minute was observed on the exterior of the bagged waste. HP Jablonowski also confirmed the radiation source was Radium 226 using an identiFINDER-X. No other isotopes were detected.
The two bags of radioactive material were loaded into overpack drums which were secured in the ADCOM Express truck. The surface radiation level of the overpack drums was determined to be less than 0.1 mrem/hr. ADCOM Express transported the radioactive material to ADCO Services’ facility in Tinley Park, IL. A copy of the manifest is available in the document section of the OSC website.
The orphan Radium 226 source was transported by ADCOM Express to ADCO Services’ facility in Tinley Park, IL for processing/disposal on November 17, 2008. U.S. EPA and WDHS representatives oversaw the removal of the material.
ADCO Services will issue a letter of processing/disposal to U.S. EPA.
Discussions regarding Wisconsin’s orphan radiation source collection program are ongoing.
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