The following was received via email from the State of Illinois:
On 9/16/2003, the agency was contacted by [DELETED] RSO at the Chicago Prostate Cancer Center in Westmont, IL (IL-02015-01). He indicated that on 9/11/2003, a package of unused radioactive seeds was being prepared to be returned to Amersham Health/Medi Physics in Arlington Heights, IL. At that time they noted that the package contained only 6 'strands' of sources whereas the paperwork for receipt on 9/4/2003 indicated 7 'strands' of sources to be present.
The I-125 seeds are contained in a special rigid plastic carrier. This carrier has a marketing name of 'rapid strand'. Each 'strand' contains ten I-125 seeds in a rigid plastic holder which is then placed in a stainless steel holder with an opening at one end. When the seeds are in the holder, radiation readings are at or very near background levels of radiation. This holder has been sterilized at Medi Physics and as a result it is placed in a sealed pouch until it is ready to be used in the operating room. A full description with some diagrams can be found at http://www.hsrd.ornl.gov/sources/pdf/01360338.pdf.
The package containing the six strands of seeds was picked up by Federal Express and returned to Medi Physics on 9/17/2003. [DELETED], RSO of Medi Physics participated in the inspection of the package to be sure that the problem was not just an administrative error. His inspection did not turn up the missing 7th strand. An inspection of previously used shipping containers from this site that had been returned to Medi Physics did not result in the recovery of the missing strand either. [DELETED] also had production perform an accounting check as well to see if perhaps only 6 strands had been originally shipped as a mistake. The check showed no outstanding seeds or strands from that lot that could not be accounted for, or shipped to another client as a result of a substitution.
An agency inspector also visited the Chicago Prostate Cancer Center in Westmont on 9/17/2003 and attempted to locate the strand through radiation monitoring. He was not successful in recovering the strand. As a result, one strand containing a total activity of 5.94 [milliCuries] mCi (10 seeds with 594 micro Curie each) is missing. The licensee will continue its attempts to locate the missing seeds and will keep the agency updated with its efforts. The licensee was also advised that a written report is due to the Agency in 30 days.