[ RadSafe ] Prison Term For Illegal Shipment

[ROGERS, Brent]

Steven Dapra Q:  "Is Ir-192 actually dangerous...?"  

A:  Yes.  The industrial radiography texts are replete with accidents involving such sources, resulting in lost digits, limbs and body functions.  Additionally, there is the Pennsylvania medical case where a therapeutic patient died after having had the
source left in her.  Medical sources of Ir-192 are typcially 10% of the activity of their industrial counterparts.  

In the RPT text Basic Radiation Protection Technology (Golnick), there is a tragic example in Argentina of a man who put one of these sources in his back pocket.  He lost both legs, and the lower portion of his trunk is horribly disfigured.  In this
instance, I don't think the term "He's lucky to be alive" is apropos.

BTW, I note that the source is "depleted".  However, Ir-192 that is depleted beyond industrial usefulness is still quite dangerous.

And finally, if we're going to have laws, we may as well enforce them, otherwise they're useless.

-Brent Rogers

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl]On
Behalf Of Steven Dapra
Sent: Tuesday, 15 August 2006 11:29
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Prison Term For Illegal Shipment


At 01:58 PM 8/14/06 -0700, you wrote:

>Company President Draws Prison Term For Transporting Radioactive
>Material

>
>TAMPA, Fla.--The president of a Florida company was sentenced to two
>years in prison for illegally transporting radioactive hazardous
>material between the Bahamas and the United States, federal prosecutors
>announced Aug. 4 (United States v. DeGregory, S.D. Fla., No. 05-60201,
>8/4/06).

>In addition, defendant Harold J. DeGregory was ordered to forfeit two
>Piper Navajo aircraft, valued at about $75,000 each, R. Alexander
>Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a
>written statement.

>DeGregory, president of H&G Import Export of Fort Lauderdale, was
>convicted in January of three counts of illegal transportation of the
>radioactive isotope iridium-192 and two counts of making a materially
>false statement to the government.

[edit]

         Question:

         Is Ir-192 actually dangerous, or is this merely a case of some 
muscle-headed, power drunk Federal prosecutor throwing his weight 
around?  Yes, I know -- we are told that the defendant made a "materially 
false statement" to the "government."  I wonder what exactly this "false 
statement" was.  That he flew the plane on Monday when he actually flew it 
on Tuesday?

         With all the violent crime that goes on in this country (and 
probably in Florida too), and all the DRUG smuggling that goes on through 
Florida, is flying around with Ir-192 the most important thing on tap?

         Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.

Steven Dapra
sjd at swcp.com

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