The State provided the following information via email:
On August 9, 2007, a dry smear of an ECD at UC Berkeley indicated a gross count rate of 5171 cpm. It was determined that this count rate indicated an activity of 0.03 uCi of Nickel-63. The ECD was returned to Varian on August 21, 2007, who determined that the leakage was less than the reportable limit of 0.005 uCi. Varian returned the ECD with the original Nickel-63 foil to UC Berkeley on August 28, 2007.
On October 16, 2007, the same 15 mCi Nickel-63 foil in the same Electron Capture Detector (
ECD) in the Varian gas chromatograph was again found to be leaking. The activity of the leakage was determined to be 0.06 uCi. On October 17, 2007, the use of the gas chromatograph was immediately suspended, and a follow-up survey found that the contamination was limited to the top of the
ECD, the exhaust funnel and a section of the exhaust tubing. On October 19, 2007, Varian representatives removed the
ECD and transported it to their facility for analysis and repair. No adverse health effects resulted from this incident.
UC Berkeley notified the
RHB [Radiologic Health Branch] of this matter on November 9, 2007.