The following information was received via email and telephone by the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency [the Agency]:
The Agency was notified the afternoon of August 16, 2023 by G.E. Healthcare in Arlington Heights, IL (RML IL-01109-01) to advise of two radiopharmaceutical packages missing in transit. The last known location was the common carrier facility in Memphis, TN. The carrier informed the licensee that the packages could not be located and are now identified as missing. These packages do not represent a significant public safety hazard and there are no indications of intentional theft or diversion. Details of the packages are below:
Package 1: Shipped on August 11, 2023 to RLS USA, Inc. Sugar Notch in Pittston, PA under tracking number 782355003930. Contained (1) 3 mL shielded vial of In-111. Package activity at the time of shipment was 5.210 mCi. Currently, 1.5 mCi at the time of this e-mail. The last scan occurred at 0035 CDT on August 12, 2023. GE Healthcare contacted the customer and confirmed that the package was not received.
Package 2: Shipped on August 11, 2023 to Cardinal Health in Sarasota, FL under tracking number 782382357185. Contained (1) 3 mL shielded vial of In-111. Package activity at the time of shipment was 5.210 mCi. Currently, 1.512 mCi at the time of this e-mail. The last scan occurred at 0035 CDT on August 12, 2023. GE Healthcare contacted the customer and confirmed that the package was not received.
The licensee advises no updates have become available and the packages are both considered lost. As both have decayed to background, the Agency considers these incidents closed.
Illinois Event Number: IL230018
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