Case 2 – Melting of an orphan source in a metal works
An orphan Am-241 source, which was inadvertently included in scrap metal, was melted in a steel factory. The melting was detected by the radiation pulse rate monitoring within the smelting process.
Response / Action taken
The activity concentration was 60 Bq/g. It is estimated that
the activity of the melted source is 1.11GB. The source is traced by the
operator to a stainless steel scrap delivered from Central Europe. Origin of
the scrap metal is unknown.
Am-241 is captured in the dust suppression and filtration with other
particulates in the dust phase and thus there were no environmental releases. Despite
the modern screening technology used, the source could pass through because of
americium’s low gamma energy, which is easily attenuated by other scrap.
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