Date: 21 October-18 November 1994
Location: Tammiku, Estonia
Type of event: stolen source
Description:
On 21 October a cesium-137 source was stolen from a radioactive waste facility by three brothers. One of them had picked up the source when it fell out of a metal block and placed it in his jacket pocket. He took the source to his home and hung his jacket, containing the source, in a hallway, already feeling ill. On 25 October he was hospitalized and died 2 November; the cause of death was diagnosed as kidney failure, and no radiation injury was recognized at this time. On 9 November the man's stepson found the source in the jacket and moved it to a kitchen drawer. On 17 November the child was hospitalized with burns which were recognized as radiation burns by hospital staff. The staff notified authorities, who found the source in the house on 18 November. The man who carried the source home received a 183,000 rem dose to his thigh and a 400 rem whole-body dose. Of the other perpetrators, one received a 1,200-2,000 rem dose to his hands, causing injury and the other a whole body dose of less than 100 rem, causing mild radiation sickness. The three other residents of the house were injured: the child received a dose of 360 rads, with localized dose to the hands of 2,500 rem, requiring amputation of the fingers on one hand; the man's mother received a whole body dose of 225 rem or more and developed moderate radiation sickness, and the man's wife received a whole body dose of 50 rem. A dog that slept near the source indoors also died.
Consequences: 1 fatality, 4 injuries.
References:
© 2004, 2007 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 22 September 2007.
Return to Home. Return to Nuclear Weapons Resources. Return to Database of radiological incidents and related events.