Re: Plutonium-238-containing cardiac pacemakers

["J. Andrew Tompkins" <jatalbq@mindspring.com>]

Ken,

The US DOE 's Off-site Source Recovery Project (OSR) has the responsibility
for transuranic sealed source GTCC waste disposal.  The project has
recently been re-organized and is presently creating the organization to
safely receive and store all excess transuranic sealed sources.  The Pu-238
 cardiac pacemakers, not currently implanted, are presently stored at the
various manufactuers facilities (about 1310 units).  In the future OSRP
will be arranging for the transfer of these materials to commercial storage
prior to final disposal.

If  individuals know of Pu-238 pacemakers or other transuranic sealed
sources that are not on the LANL database please contact Shelby Leonard
(sleonard@lanl.gov).  She will provide information on how to register
transuranic sealed sources for future recovery.

Andy Tompkins
LANL/EM-WM/OSRP

jatompkins@lanl.gov

At 02:08 PM 5/25/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear Jaro,
>Nuclear powered pacemakers hit the market in the early 1970s.  One of the 
>manufacturers was Medtronic, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Perhaps they 
>can tell you how many they sold.  The Air Force School of Aerospce Medicine 
>performed EMI tests on Medtronic Model 9000 pcemakers, when this was 
>considered a problem for Air Force installations.  The pacemakers contained 
>2.5 Ci of Pu-238.  tests were conducted in water phantoms.  We were 
>instructed to return them to the manufacturer when they were no longer of 
>use.  The literature at the time stated tht patients who received the 
>pacemakers were required to carry a special ID card and that upon their 
>demise, the pacemaker was to be retrieved and returned to the physician, who 
>in turn was to return it to the manufacturer.   We heard of one story
where a 
>patient had to be reinterred.   I presume that Medtronic returned the Pu
fuel 
>capsules to the DOE.   I, too, would be interested in knowing is any of
these 
>devices re still around.  Please let us know.
>
>Ken Hardy
>hardykphys@aol.com
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