Date: 11 December 1991

Location: Maryland, USA

Type of event: accident at industrial irradiator

Description:

An accident at an electron accelerator irradiator resulting from safety violations caused severe radiation injury to one person. During maintenance an operator placed his heads, head, and feet in the beam from the electron dark current (while the electron source filament voltage was off but the high-voltage terminal on). Due to a dose of about 5,500-10,800 rem to the hands, four fingers on each hand had to be amputated about 3 months later. The man also suffered thinning of hair on the scalp after two weeks.

Consequences: 1 injury.

References:

• Ortiz, P., M. Oresegun, and J. Wheatley, 2000, "Lessons from major radiation accidents," on line, Internationl Radiation Protection Association [http://www.irpa.net/irpa10/cdrom/00140.pdf].
• Schauer, D. A., B. M. Coursey, C. E. Dick, W. L. McLaughlin, J. M. Puhl, M. F. Desrosiers, and A. D. Jacobson, 1993, "A radiation accident at an industrial accelerator facility," Health Physics, 65:131-140.
• Schauer, D. A., M. F. Desrosiers, P. Kuppusamy, and J. L. Zweier, 1996, "Radiation dosimetry of an accidental overexposure using EPR spectrometry and imaging of human bone," Appl. Radiat. Isot., 47:1345-1350.
• Turai, Istvan, and Katalin Veress, 2001, "Radiation accidents: Occurrence, types, consequences, medical management, and the lessons to be learned," Central European Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 7:3-14, on line at CEJOEM [http://www.fjokk.hu/cejoem/files/Volume7/Vol7No1/CE01_1-01.html].
• UNSCEAR, 2000, "Annex E: Occupational radiation exposures," in Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation: United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation UNSCEAR 2000 Report to the General Assembly, with Scientific Annexes, Volume I: Sources, UNSCEAR, on line at UNSCEAR [http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/annexe.pdf].

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Last modified 26 October 2008.
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