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January 2000 – At Samut Prakarn, a 15.7 TBq (420 Ci) cobalt-60 teletherapy source was stolen and sold as scrap, [17] and attempts were made by scrap metal workers to recycle the metal. Three people died, and thousands of others were exposed to radiation. It was found that at the edge of the scrap yard, the dose rate was about 1 to 10 mSv·h −1.
The theft of radioactive material in Tammiku took place in 1994.Three brothers in Tammiku, Männiku, Saku Parish (Harju County), Estonia, who were scrap metal scavengers, entered a fenced area in the woods and broke into a small shed that was seemingly abandoned (after having had no success with entering a larger building inside the area), with stairs leading to an underground hall.
a protective internal shield (usually uranium metal or a tungsten alloy), and a cylinder of radioactive source material ( caesium-137 in the Goiânia incident, but usually cobalt-60 ) The Goiânia accident [ɡojˈjɐniɐ] was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on September 13, 1987, in Goiânia , Goiás , Brazil, after an ...
April 2010 – INES level 4 – A 35-year-old man was hospitalized in New Delhi after handling radioactive scrap metal. Investigation led to the discovery of an amount of scrap metal containing 60 Co in the Delhi's industrial district of Mayapuri. The 35-year-old man later died from his injuries, while six others remained hospitalized.
Vicente Sotelo Alardín, then an employee of the medical center, dismantled the unit on December 6, 1983, to sell it as scrap metal at the Fénix junkyard at the request of the hospital's maintenance manager. Sotelo had disassembled the head of the radioactive unit and extracted a cylinder containing the cobalt-60 source.
April 2010 – INES level 4 – A 35-year-old man was hospitalized in New Delhi after handling radioactive scrap metal. Investigation led to the discovery of an amount of scrap metal containing cobalt-60 in Delhi's industrial district of Mayapuri. The 35-year-old man later died from his injuries, while six others remained hospitalized.
Diagram of a generic teletherapy source unit. The radioactive material (G) is embedded within protective metal canisters. On 24 January 2000, the part of the radiation therapy unit containing the radiation source was acquired by two scrap collectors, who claimed to have bought it from some strangers as scrap metal for resale.
A typical cobalt-60 capsule, comprising: (A) An international standard source holder (usually lead), (B) a retaining ring, and (C) a teletherapy "source" composed of (D) two nested stainless steel canisters welded to two (E) stainless steel lids surrounding an (F) internal shield (usually uranium metal or a tungsten alloy) that protects a (G) cylinder of radioactive source material.