Re: Radioactive Contamination Anecdotes

["Sue M. Dupre" <DUPRE%PUCC.bitnet@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>]

As best as I can recall, Princeton University has only been fined once by the
NRC, but that one time was the result of a contamination incident, marked by
both the failure to wear protective clothing and the failure to perform a sur-
vey after radioisotope use.  In this incident which occurred in 1985, a post-
doctoral fellow with many years of radioisotope experience opened a vial
containing a little less than 2 mCi of P-32, which had just arrived.  The con-
tents of the vial were not intended by the manufacturer to be pressurized but
at some point pressurization had occurred.  When the researcher opened the vial
he did not use plexiglas shielding between him and the vial and he did not wear
a lab coat.  A spray of droplets shot out of the vial; the pathlength of the
spray was about 7 feet.  However, the researcher was unaware that the spray had
occurred.  When he finished with the vial, he walked away without performing a
survey of any kind.

Approximately six hours later, someone else in the lab was performing a survey
in that vicinity and discovered contamination in the area.  Lab personnel began
surveying each other, and it was discovered that our main character, the non-
surveying researcher, had extensive contamination across the front of his pants
and shirt.  It was eventually determined that he had received a total skin dose
of 38 rem; his clothing contained over 10 microcuries of activity.

Ten years later, as a result of that incident, we have different training re-
quirements, very specific survey requirements, and a sobering cautionary tale
to bring out at our training sessions.

Hoping that all our researchers are luckier and wiser now,

Sue Dupre/Health Physicist/Princeton University
dupre@princeton.edu