A radiation accident that didn't make the news.

[jrcamero@facstaff.wisc.edu (John Cameron)]

It is undoubtedly a rare event but sometimes the news media  ignore a
serious radiation accident. It happened about 1960 or there-abouts. The
radiation chemistry group at UW-Madison had a several hundred Ci  Co-60
source for irradiating  liquid chemical solutions by being lowered into the
beaker. The source was screwed on the end of a rod so that it could be
lowered it into the beaker and after the irradiation it could be raised to
its shielded position. As luck would have it, it gradually worked itself
loose and dropped into a beaker. The grad student doing the radiation did
not follow the safety procedure to check to see if the source was properly
put away. The GM counter in the lab undoubtedly jammed as the source was
taken out of its shielded housing. The grad student took the beaker to his
lab. He later took it back and gave it a "second" dose, unaware that the
source was in the beaker all the time. He later felt he was getting the flu
and went home early leaving the beaker containing  the source in his lab.
Students returning in the evening to do research in nearby labs found their
detectors going wild. It was soon clear that the source was loose. The grad
student received a dose to his abdomen of several thousand rads. He was
taken to student health, the AEC was informed and the major professor sent
a news release to the two local papers explaining that a grad student
received a larger than usual accidental exposure. It appeared as  brief
note in both papers and neither paper did a follow up on the story.  It was
many years later before it made the local news when it was described in a
report. The local news media felt that the story had been covered up when
it happened. They must have been slightly embarrassed to realize they
missed it.
        Why didn't the news media follow up? The same day of the radiation
accident a UW boxer died from a head injury and it occupied the headlines.
It lead to the abandonment of boxing at UW.  The exposed grad student
survived but just barely. His blood counts dropped to very low levels,
eventually his abdomen had considerable fibrosis and permanent skin damage,
he had no viable sperm many years later. It was one of the larger
accidental exposures ever recorded up till that time, maybe up to this
time. 
        The moral of the story -  if you are going to have a radiation
accident try to have it the same day as a news-worthy sport story. 
        The details of this event are a bit fuzzy after about 35 years but
the general facts of the accident are reasonably correct. As a by-product
of the accident I became the chairman of the radiaton safety committee and
I was able to hire the first health physicist (half-time)! 
        This story might help a little to balance the scales for some of
other interesting anecdotes where the risk was small but the news was
great!. John Cameron
John Cameron, address & phones until about April 20, 1996:  2678 SW 14th
Dr., Gainesville, FL 32608 - Voice 914/371-9865; FAX 914/371-9866.
 From April 23 till fall 1996 we will be at: P.O. Box 405, Lone Rock, WI
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jrcamero@facstaff.wisc.edu stays the same the year around.