The following was received from the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS)) via email:
IEMA-OHS was contacted the morning of October 25, 2023, by GE Precision Healthcare (a Wisconsin-licensed service provider) to advise of a Ge-68 source that had been improperly shipped to Illinois. Reportedly, a positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) unit, still containing the Ge-68 source, was removed from a medical facility in Washington state and shipped to an unlicensed Illinois facility (MAK Healthcare). The parties involved are seeking the proper removal and return of the source to the Washington licensee. It is our understanding that GE Healthcare intends to send a technician to the Illinois facility on Friday, October 27 to remove or retrieve the sources under reciprocity. Thereafter, the source will be packaged and returned to the licensee in Washington state.
Illinois staff contacted Washington staff and advised them of the available details. In accordance with SA-300, section 5.6.2, this report is being filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a 'found source'. The matter may also be reportable under the Illinois equivalent of 10 CFR 20.2203(a)(3)(ii). IEMA-OHS staff will monitor the activities in Illinois to verify source integrity and proper return to appropriately licensed individuals.
This report will be updated as details become available. At this time, the Ge-68 sealed source is estimated to have a maximum activity of 11 mCi and is either an IPL-model number HEGL-0132 or 0019 or 0020.
Illinois report number: IL230031
See NRC Event Notification number 56818 for a parallel report made by Washington.
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