Re: More bad news

["Frank E. Gallagher, III" <fegallag@uci.edu>]

At 08:08 PM 8/20/99 -0500, Bill Liptin wrote:
>Is this an "epidemic" or what?
>
>Seriously, though, before this thread goes much further, I'd be grateful
if there is
>a knowledgeable person who could supply some real information, eg,
radionuclide
>used, activity, internal or external exposure, estimated dose and dose
commitment.
>
>
>> Man charged with radioactive assault
>> SANTA ANA, Calif. - A former university lab technician who authorities said
>> sought revenge on a coworker by smearing her chair with radioactive
material was
>> arrested Thursday on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.

Now that the former technician has been arrested, I am free to answer a few
questions about the alleged crime involving radioactive materials at the
University of California, Irvine (UCI).  Some of the information below was
previously copied to Radsafe from the NRC event report that the federal
agency received from the State of California.

About 15-30 microcuries of P-32 CTP (1-2 microliters) was intentionally
dropped, using a micropipette, onto an office chair at a desk in a
laboratory.  The victim then sat in the chair for 3-4 hours total during
parts of 2 days.  The laboratory technician admitted his guilt to the
principal investigator and later to the Radiation Safety Officer and two
health physicists during a factfinding interview.

We measured (ion chamber and TLD independently) about 100 mrem/h thru
clothing, giving the victim a dose of about 400 mrem external shallow dose
equivalent to the skin of her buttocks.  A urine sample indicated no
detectable radioactivity.  Remember that the annual limit for SDE is 50
rems.   Our ALARA Level I for an investigation of an SDE occupational
exposure is 2.5 rems per event or 5 rems per year, whichever occurs first
during the calendar year.  Thus, this dose was well below our ALARA Level I.

The UCI Police and Orange County DA essentially conducted an investigation
independent of the UCI Radiation Safety Officer and staff, although they
used my report as input.  The Police did explain to me that under
California law, they can only arrest someone for a misdemeanor (e.g.,
simple assault, which I could easily support in this case) if the officer
actually sees the crime being committed (or the victim makes a citizen's
arrest).  Thus, to be able to proceed with an arrest, they needed to
establish at least some evidence for a felony charge (the deadly weapon part).

Since the chair was still in the laboratory, I do not understand the charge
of illegal radioactive waste disposal.  After the victim found the
contamination on the chair, and before we had any evidence of an
intentional exposure, we moved the chair to our central radioactive waste
storage area to be stored for decay.

The Police and DA obviously did not ask my advice on the appropriate
charges for the alleged criminal.  The two felony charges probably give the
DA plenty of room for a plea bargain, if they decide to go that route
before trial.

This was another deliberate act by a trained and authorized radioisotope
user with legitimate access to the materials.  Sound familiar?

Frank E. Gallagher, III, MS, MPH, CHP  
Manager, Radiation Protection Section
Radiation Safety Officer 
Environmental Health & Safety Office
University of California, Irvine
300 University Tower  ||  Irvine, CA  92697-2725
(949) 824-6904  ||  Fax: (949) 824-8539
fegallag@uci.edu
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