The following event was received via e-mail
On April 23, 2007, 101 I-125 seeds (10 strands, each strand containing 10 seeds, and one calibrated seed) were received by the Nuclear Medicine Hot Lab and transported from the Nuclear Medicine Hot Lab to Rad Oncology for assay on April 24, 2007. All seeds were accounted for. One strand was dismantled and all 10 seeds were assayed and stored in a lead pig. The area was surveyed at the end of the assay process, and the seeds were maintained under lock until the next morning when they were retrieved for the procedure.
The following morning the strands were taken to the Operating Room for the procedure. The 10 loose seeds used in the assay were loaded in a Mick Cartridge (a device used for surgery) and transported to the OR.
After the procedure all seeds implanted, seeds in strands and the cartridge (as a whole and not counting the seeds loaded in it) were accounted for. All strands were stored in a lead pig, and the cartridge was stored in a second pig. The package containing both pigs was transported to Rad Oncology and was kept under lock at all times.
On May 23, 2007, a re-count of the seeds was completed before sending them to the manufacturer. The calibrated seed and the seeds from the strands were accounted for. The cartridge contained 9 out of the 10 seeds it was supposed to be holding. The seed activity at the time it was missed (5/23/07) was 0.361 mCi.
The area where the cartridge was loaded and unloaded was surveyed as well as the two units that were used to sterilize the seeds. Surveys of some of the areas where the package was transported are still in progress.
THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A "LESS THAN CAT 3" LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL
Sources that are "Less than
IAEA Category 3 sources," are either sources that are very unlikely to cause permanent injury to individuals or contain a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause any permanent injury. Some of these sources, such as
moisture density gauges or thickness
gauges that are Category 4, the amount of unshielded radioactive material, if not safely managed or securely protected, could possibly - although it is unlikely - temporarily injure someone who handled it or were otherwise in contact with it, or who were close to it for a period of many weeks.