The following information was received from the state of
Minnesota via email:
It has come to our attention during our IMPEP review that we have some events that were not directly reported to the HOO as required. They were reported to NMED, but we are now reporting them directly to the HOO.
Fairview Southdale Hospital (FSH) reported the loss of two I-125 seeds (IsoAid model IAI-125A) used for localization of non-palpable lesions. Each seed contained an activity of 11.1 MBq (300 microCi). The seeds were discovered to be missing from their decay-in-storage area while placing a new seed in storage on 12/5/2019. FSH staff decided to count the seeds that were in the storage pig. There should have been 20 seeds, but only 18 seeds were counted. FSH conducted an investigation and determined that the two seeds were lost. Corrective actions included conducting daily radiation surveys of all areas of the breast center hot laboratory.
Minnesota event number: 200001
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. For additional information go to
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf