The following information was received via fax:
Event location: 14 Parker Hall, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, NY, 14214
The RSO at [SUNY at Buffalo] called on 08/21/08 to report a leaking nickel 63 sealed source located in a HP gas chromatograph unit. Location of unit is Farber Hall room 2128. Apparently on Monday, August 11, 2008, the researcher was cooking 'stuff' in the oven portion of the unit. Product exploded in the oven and spilled over into the other parts of the unit and landed on the sealed source compromising integrity. Contamination was found in the oven of the unit. SUNY EH&S [State University of New York Environment, Health and Safety] staff performed decontamination of the unit until <100 dpm. No contamination was found outside of the unit. SUNY EH&S staff also surveyed the rooftop of the building as the unit is vented and no contamination was found. SUNY EH&S [gave] the researcher until Friday, 08/29/08 to submit his report of the incident to EH&S. NYS staff visited [SUNY at Buffalo] on 08/26/08 and interview [an individual] who reported that the leak was found during the routine leak testing. When the swipe came back high, he re-swiped the unit and noticed a white powder all over the oven and inside the tubing. [When] asked, the researcher stated that she had dried a silica gel in the oven on 08/11/08. Apparently, the foil cover blew off of the beaker, and the silica gel went all through the machine via an inlet port possibly 'sandblasting' the foil compromising its integrity. Swipe testing by liquid scintillation showed contamination on inlet and outlet and no contamination on the housing or outside the machine. EH&S has decontaminated the machine as much as possible and taken it out of service. EH&S has also contacted the manufacturer of HP 5890. Manufacturer states there is no way to clean it and the machine should be scrapped. EH&S plans to take out the source, scrap metal parts that are not contaminated and hold remaining pieces until a disposal option is available. Written report [was] received [on] 9/11/2008 .
The unit [is] to be handled as indicated above, and additionally, all researchers will be in-serviced on keeping the inlet to the foil capped when using ovens for other than GC [gas chromatograph] analysis. Incident is closed.
New York Event Report ID Number: NY - 11 - 08