Date: 20 February 1999

Location: Yanango, Peru

Type of event: lost source

Description:

A welder working with a radiographer at a hydroelectric plant picked up a lost iridium-192 industrial radiography source on 20 Feburary 1999 and put it in his pocket for several hours. After about six hours the worker began experiencing pain in the back of the right thigh. He went home with the source, causing minor exposures to family members. The radiographer, having discovered the source was missing about midnight, came to the welder's home at 1:00 AM on 21 February and helped discover the source. The welder received an estimated whole body dose of 150 rem, although localized doses were much higher--up to 10,000 rad to one buttock--requiring amputation of one leg.

Consequences: 1 injury.

References:

• IAEA, August 2000, The Radiological Accident in Yanago, IAEA (Vienna, Austria), on line at IAEA [http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1101_web.pdf].
• 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].

© 2004, 2006 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 11 June 2006.
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