We always shipped 100 mCi therapeutic fills of I-131 in a poly vial overpacked into a 5/8" Pb shield. The shield was then shrink wrapped and packed into a fiber box with a rigid styrofoam insert. How you "obliterate" this type of package and shield by hitting it with a truck is beyond me. Our package met DOT Type A requirements. It may have lost containment if it was hit by a truck, but the components would still be readily identifiable. Your suggestion of a 4" pipe with endcaps describes a Type B container and would be prohibitively expensive and not appropriate for the risk involoved. When we were in that business, we shipped thousands of doses a month to hospitals and pharmacies, all in 7A Type A containers.
Mike Vala
Bristol-MyersSquibb
Does anyone know details on how big a typical I-131 source is and
what the
shipping container is like?
Seems like it should be easy to build a container that could be run
over by a
truck. Like two 4 inch pipe end caps and a short piece of
pipe in between.
John Grant