URGENT request for Mn-54 for seafloor sciesmic event study!

["Sandy O'Brien" <sobrien@UCSD.EDU>]

Hello all,


A sea-floor, volcanic, seismic event was recently detected in the Gorda

Ridge area along the Pacific Northwest.  A pre-planned "Event

and Rapid Response" effort is presently underway to study this

sea-floor phenomenon.  As part of this response effort, a Scripps

Institution of Oceanography research vessel, New Horizon, is

transiting to the study site.  The vessel will be the science

platform for an array of studies coordinated and carried out by

University of Hawaii and NOAA scientists. 


The Principal Investigator from the University of Hawaii, Dr. Jim Cowen,

is in urgent need of Mn-54 for tracer studies at the event site. 

Dr. Cowen had pre-arranged for the vendor to drop-ship his Mn-54 stock to

the ship's loading location upon the occurrence of such a detectable

seismic event.  However, now that an event has occurred, he finds

that the vendor cannot obtain the Mn-54 in time to meet the immediate

response need.    


Dr. Cowen URGENTLY needs the following:

Mn-54 as manganese chloride, 100-200 microCuries, high specific activity

and high purity.

An aqueous solution is best.  The solution need not be sterile but

should be clean.  Dry powder form may work as well.  Dr. Cowen

will pay all shipping costs and will replace the Mn-54 stock.


The material must be in Eureka, CA  (Northern California) Tuesday

morning by 1000, or so, for loading onto the vessel.  We could work

the transport thru several means but a combination of commercial airline

and courier appears the most promising, especially in light of the tight

schedule deadline.  The material could be flown into San Francisco

International Airport and picked up by a courier company for routing to

the ship.  (I already have a courier company lined up that works 24

hours.)   I will coordinate transport logistics. 


The material will be used under the University of California, San Diego

licenses.  We are properly licensed for use of radioactive materials

for this type of endeavor.  The "Event and Rapid Response"

parameters were pre-arranged by agreement with the NRC, the University of

Hawaii, and the University of California, San Diego.  For questions

regarding licensing, please contact me at the numbers below.


If someone has Mn--54 that they can spare for the time being, please

respond by email to

Dr. Cowen at jcowen@soest.hawaii.edu AND to me at

sobrien@ucsd.edu, or telephone me at the numbers below.  Email will

reach Dr. Cowen until  0800 Hawaii time.  After that time, I

will relay the information to him.  


I know that this is short notice but we are giving it a try.  This

is an unusual study opportunity and we'd like to maximize the research

endeavor.  This is a good chance to be a hero and assist with this

unusual science effort.  


Information on the Gorda Ridge seismic event can be viewed at  


http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/seismicity/nepac/gordaridge01.html


(Sorry for the double posting for those on both RADSAFE and AMRSO

lists.)


Thank you in advance,


Sandy O'Brien, HP

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 

University of California, San Diego-0210

9500 Gilman Drive

La Jolla, CA  92093-0210

phone:  858-534-6103

fax:

   

  858-534-5306

email:  sobrien@ucsd.edu