Re: from lochbaum, differences in biological.../strontium

[BLHamrick@aol.com]

In a message dated 08/12/2000 10:09:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
bcradsafers@hotmail.com writes:

<< I read about two years ago somewhere about two Sr-90 incidents - Sr-90 
used 
 for lighthouses (or ice-breakers??) I think (the order of many 
 petabecquerels). One was lost into the from a helicopter near Sakhalin 
 (probably sea of Okhotsk - spelling?) in 1997 and the other was crushed 
 under a bulldozer near the river of Yenisey. I have however lost the 
 litterature sources. Can anyone in Radsafers land give some help? >>

I found one story at http://207.12.87.1/nucwaste/news/ens38.htm:

BLADES OF CRASHED MILITARY CHOPPER CARRIED RADIOACTIVE STRONTIUM-90
June 9, 1999

Each of the six blades on the MH-53J Pave Low helicopter that crashed during 
a training mission last week in North Carolina contained a 500 microcurie 
source of strontium-90, a radioactive material controlled by the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The strontium-90 was part of the helicopter’s in-flight blade inspection 
systems (IBIS), which warn pilots when the blades develop stress fractures. 
IBIS devices release minute amounts of radiation when a leak develops in the 
pressurized blades, and a radiation detector on each wing immediately 
notifies the pilot that a blade may fail.

Most military helicopters in the U.S. and abroad contain IBIS devices, 
according to Major Mitch Hicks, deputy chief of the Air Force Radiation 
Protection Division (AFRPD). Some civilian helicopters may also use IBIS 
technology. The small devices are normally heavily shielded, and pose no 
radiation exposure risk. But after a crash the devices may become unshielded, 
and may release radioactive powder into the air.

Strontium-90 is a bone-seeking radiation source. If it is inhaled, it can 
cross the lung membranes into the bloodstream, where it will seek out bone 
and can lead to leukemia. The crash site on the western side of Fort Bragg, 
North Carolina, has been cordoned off. Response teams at the site have been 
warned to wear gloves and bag any IBIS devices or blade parts they locate. So 
far, four of the six blades have been found and bagged, and no radiation 
contamination has been detected.

The AFRPD says a person standing a foot from a completely unshielded IBIS 
strontium-90 source would have to remain exposed for 67 hours before 
receiving the maximum occupational dose of beta radiation set by the NRC. The 
crash killed one Air Force crewmember, and injured five others. Pave Low 
helicopters participated in the rescue of an Air Force F-117A stealth fighter 
pilot in Yugoslovia in March

© Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.
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