The Thomason Chemical Company (Site), a family owned former farm equipment manufacturing facility comprised of a metals fabrication and manufacturing shop and surrounding property, is located in Craigmont, Idaho within the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. According to the Idaho State Communications Center Report, the Nez Perce Tribe was contacted by a Site representative on April 12, 2013 about a potentially radioactive cylinder that the representative claimed to have purchased through salvage at the Hanford Reservation several years ago. DOE RAP Team Officials identified the cylinder as an unlicensed, orphan depleted uranium source. The cylinder presented a health hazard because it was not secured and could go into circulation in the public. For example, if depleted uranium, a chemically toxic substance, were to become processed into smaller pieces, it could cause kidney damage if ingested or inhaled. Additionally, when orphan sources can easily be acquired for malicious purposes, such as radioactive dispersal devices, they can pose a serious threat to human health and the environment.
On June 18, 2013, OSC Weigel and EPA Contractors mobilized to the Site. The cylinder was packaged, labeled, and transported for disposal at a low-level radiation waste facility in accordance with EPA’s Off-Site Disposal Rule.
