Radiation Safety Anecdote

["William G. Nabor" <wgnabor@uci.edu>]

     This incident happened at the University of California, Irvine
(UCI) on August 7, 1975.  It illustrates what can happen even when
all users comply fully with all rules, and even recommendations,
and warns how bad things can really get if the rules are ignored:

     A researcher was working about 11 PM in a laboratory where
radioactive material was used, but she, herself, did not use any. 
She had her boyfriend with her.  At the end of her experiment she
opened the freezer to store her result.  A vial fell out and broke
on the floor.  The vial was properly labeled with radioactive label
tape with all the correct colors, words, and symbols, including the
isotope and amount.  She knew then that she had spilled some
radioactive material.  She did exactly what she was supposed to do,
she called our police emergency number and reported the incident. 
The police dispatcher did exactly what he was supposed to do.  He
told her to exit the lab, close the door and wait outside until he
could contact the RSO (all the HP's have their home phone numbers
registered with the Campus Police).  The RSO would arrive and
assess the situation.  ETA about 30 minutes.  So far, so good.

     The boyfriend, however, appears to have been a non-science
type altogether.  He was appalled that they would have to wait for
30 minutes when there was radioactive material on the floor, so he
pulled the fire alarm!  Then, to compound matters beyond recall, he
called the fire department directly and said, "Come quick!  Four
people have been burned with radiation!"

     When the RSO arrived on the scene he found a zoo.  We had fire
personnel from 3 different local stations, police from the campus,
Irvine, Costa Mesa, the California Highway Patrol, and the Orange
County Sheriff.  The firepeople were all in maximum anti-C gear. 
The officer at the door wouldn't let the RSO enter the building
because of a, "... massive radioactive spill upstairs.  The fire
department is up there now counting giegers."

     When the RSO finally was able to enter the room he found a
firefighter in anti-C's pointing a cutie-pie at the vial on the
floor and wondering why there was no reading.  The RSO read the
label on the vial and learned that the spill consisted of one
quarter of one microcurie of C-14.  He wiped up the spill with a
paper towel and told everybody to go home.

     This should have been the end of the incident.  Alas, it was
not.   UCI does not have a fire department.  We rely on Orange
County for fire protection (this was way before the bankruptcy). 
They, of course use their radios.  These transmissions, of course,
are monitored by the news media.  We made the headlines the next
day in one local paper and a first-page story in the other.  The
headline story was more or less a correct account of the incident
because that paper had the journalistic integrity to send a
reporter to the scene.  The other paper just printed what came in
over the radio under the caption "UCI Radioactive 'Spill' Burns 2". 
Note the quotes.  Meant to imply that it was more than just a
"spill", don't you think?  A retraction was printed the next day,
but not on page 1.  Even the first, correct, account still ended by
reminding the readers that the incident happened on the "30th
anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima."

     When I arrived the next day, I was being told the incredible
story when I got a call from the NRC wanting to know what happened
at our nuclear reactor.  I guess they were called (not by us!!!)
and understandably figured that if 4 people were burned with
radiation the reactor is the only place that could happen.  When I
told him we spilled a quarter microcurie of C-14, he began to
question my knowledge.  Did I know the difference between a micro
and a mega, etc.  We ended the conversation with a laugh, but it
was a near thing.

     And all this when every rule was scrupulously followed!  What
if the user had not written the isotope and amount on the label? 
Then the RSO would have had to analyze the material while
"virtually all the firefighting apparatus in Irvine" (quote from
the news account) waited around in anti-C's unable to respond to a
real emergency.

     Worse!  What if the user didn't label the vial at all.  After
all, 0.25 uCi of C-14 is no big health threat is it?  Then there is
every likelihood that the researcher who spilled it and maybe even
the boyfriend would have cleaned up the spill and disposed of all
the evidence before finding out that they touched radioactive
material.  What a scandal that would have been!

     So, even a little thing like labeling a small vial containing
a trivial amount of material can have major repercussions.  Be
warned!!
**********************************************************************
William G. Nabor
University of California, Irvine
EH&S Office
Irvine, CA,  92717-2725
WGNABOR@UCI.EDU
**********************************************************************