International Isotopes on Wednesday confirmed its role in an accident two weeks ago that contaminated more than a dozen people with cesium-137 during the Department of Energy-funded removal of a blood-irradiation machine from a research facility at the University of Washington in Seattle.
“[O]ur radiological services team was involved in a contamination event at an off-site location in the state of Washington,” the Idaho Falls, Idaho, nuclear medicine company said in a 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “We are currently supporting clean-up operations at that location and are in discussions with regulatory agencies regarding any possible violations that may have occurred.”
International Isotopes said it reported the incident, which occurred May 2, to its insurance provider, which the company believes will cover costs related to the matter.
“At this time, the total cost of recovery is unknown, and it is not known whether we will be cited by the regulator for any violations related to this event,” the 10-Q says.
“The company is conducting an investigation of the incident which is consistent with our responsibility as an NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] license holder and operating under a reciprocity license with the State of Washington,” President and CEO Steve Laflin wrote in a Thursday email to Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor.
Regarding International Isotopes employees contaminated during the accident, “dose estimates from minor skin and airborne exposure indicate very low levels of occupational exposure and no personnel exposure limits were exceeded,” Laflin stated.
He added that International Isotopes aims to remain in the radiological source-removal business, as soon as it wraps up its investigation “and implement corrective actions necessary to prevent recurrence.”
Meanwhile, the contaminated Research and Training Building near the University of Washington’s Harbor View Medical Center remained unoccupied as of Thursday, a university spokesperson said by email. At deadline for NS&D Monitor, the university had set no date for permitting non-response personnel back into the building.
“The area outside the building has been screened and it is safe to walk outside the perimeter of the Research & Training Building and other areas on the Harborview Medical Center campus,” the university spokesperson wrote.
International Isotopes’ radiological services division recovers radiation sources for government programs, including the Cesium Irradiator Replacement Project funded by DOE’s semiautomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The NNSA’s Office of Radiological Security manages the program, which provides grant funding to replace blood sterilization machines that use potentially dangerous cesium-137 with machines that use comparatively harmless X-rays.
Hospitals commonly irradiate blood needed for transfusions to sterilize it. Bad actors could use the gamma-ray-emitting cesium in a radioactive dispersal device, which is sometimes called a dirty bomb.
While removing an irradiator manufactured by J. L. Shepherd and Associates from on May 2, workers broke open the machine’s cesium capsule. Contamination from the powdery white cesium-137 subsequently spread through all seven floors of the research facility.
Covering its five business segments, International Isotopes on Wednesday reported just over $2.5 million in revenue for its latest quarter. That compared to $2.8 million in the same period of 2018. Income dropped on a year-over-year basis from a $34,404 net gain to a $51,958 net loss, the 10-Q says.
