Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

The Strategic Issues & International Relations Forum is a venue to discuss issues pertaining to India's security environment, her strategic outlook on global affairs and as well as the effect of international relations in the Indian Subcontinent. We request members to kindly stay within the mandate of this forum and keep their exchanges of views, on a civilised level, however vehemently any disagreement may be felt. All feedback regarding forum usage may be sent to the moderators using the Feedback Form or by clicking the Report Post Icon in any objectionable post for proper action. Please note that the views expressed by the Members and Moderators on these discussion boards are that of the individuals only and do not reflect the official policy or view of the Bharat-Rakshak.com Website. Copyright Violation is strictly prohibited and may result in revocation of your posting rights - please read the FAQ for full details. Users must also abide by the Forum Guidelines at all times.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

We have so many techies on the forum How about doing a root cause analysis of this Co-60 in the Delhi scrap Iron dealership?

The process is gather all the relevant news reports in one thread. Create a timeline and start identifying the causes. A cause should be correctable and within scope of correction and direct evidence via news report. Citing Fate or the Gods is not a cause.

Then we dig deeper to find the root cause of each path.

And try to describe the underlaying circumstances that allowed the causes to develop and exist.

Any one game or this? I will participate and request AmberG, our resident physicist, to also participate.

Google Cache of Co-60 in scrap iron shop

If we do this it might bring rigor to the process.

If we have traction we can do this in the GD Forum and then make it patent.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

Hindu News Report:

Radioactive material removed from Delhi scrap shop


What happened?
Experts on Friday safely removed eight bunches of metal scrap containing sources of Cobalt-60 radioactive isotope from a West Delhi shop and transported the material to the Narora Atomic Power Station in Uttar Pradesh. The shopowner and four workers who were exposed to radiation are under treatment.
When were the authorities aware?
According to the Department of Atomic Energy, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board — the national radiation regulatory authority — received information from the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital here that Deepak Jain, a scrap dealer from Mayapuri, admitted there on April 4, was showing symptoms of suspected radiation exposure.
Investigation
On Wednesday, a team of the DAE and the AERB visited the site and monitored emission levels inside the scrap shop and adjoining areas. The shop had a high radiation field. Four adjoining shops also indicated the same levels of radiation.

The team located the radiation sources, isolated one of them and temporarily shielded it with steel scrap to minimise emission levels. “The DAE Crisis Management Group was activated and a team was sent to Delhi with a wide range of radiation monitoring and detecting equipment,” said DAE spokesman S.K. Malhotra.

Shielded containers were brought to carry radioactive material.

Segregation of sources

The search operation continued throughout the night on Thursday and by Friday forenoon, several pieces of radioactive material were located, removed and packed into the containers. Identification of the exact radiation sources would take time; so eight bunches of scrap materials were collected for transportation to the Narora plant for segregation of radiation sources. If necessary, the isolated sources would be taken to Mumbai for further analysis.

Mr. Malhotra said the situation in the affected zone normalised after the radioactive material was removed, and the cordon was lifted on Friday afternoon. “The DAE-AERB team carried out the entire operation under police protection,” he said.

Using a portable spectrometer, the radionuclide responsible for the high radiation field was identified as Cobalt-60 isotope. “Such sources are used in radiography, nucleonic gauges for thickness measurement and in medical applications,” said Mr. Malhotra.
Task force in place

B. Bhattacharya, member of the National Disaster Management Authority and former Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, said a six-member team comprising a doctor from the R.K. Puram-based emergency response unit of the BARC and an NDMA team also visited the site, besides 10 experts from the Narora plant.


Case registered
The local police have registered a case under Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code (endangering life or personal safety of others). “Investigations are on to fix responsibility and ascertain the origin of the radioactive material,” said a police officer.
List of injured
Meanwhile, Deepak's condition is said to be serious. His workers — Ram Jeevan, Ram Kalap, Rajender and Gorakh — who were admitted to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital on Thursday, have been referred to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Deepak's brother-in-law Sunil Jain said: “His health started deteriorating about a fortnight ago. He saw some specialists after which he was admitted to a local hospital on Thursday. He was then shifted to the Apollo Hospital as his condition deteriorated.”

Deepak's friend Himanshu, who runs an adjoining shop, also complained of similar symptoms and was taken to the AIIMS on Friday,” he said.

and PTI Polce Puzzled about origin of radioactive substance
New Delhi, Apr 10 (PTI) Police are still groping in the dark about the origin of radio-active substance which landed in a west Delhi scrap market, leading to at least six persons falling critically ill and undergoing treatment in hospitals.

A senior police official said they had "no clue" about the origin of the material that landed in Mayapuri industrial area where scrap shops are located.

Sources said the material seems to have landed in the shop about a month ago.

They said investigators need to talk to Deepak Jain, who is critical after exposure to radiation, to find out from where he bought the scrap.

Experts had identified the material in the scrap dealer's shop as radioactive isotope Cobalt-60.

Police today spoke to scrap dealers in the industrial area to ascertain the source of the material.

"We also spoke to family members of Jain but they are also unaware about the source of his scrap.

Hindustant Times:
Cobalt 60. Whose?

Hospitals in the capital and and some of its industrial units use radioactive material for perfectly legitimate purposes. But while the rules on disposal are in place, no one really monitors if they are actually followed.


HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, April 09, 2010

The police are yet to trace the origin of Cobalt 60 —the radioactive substance that triggered panic in the dusty lanes of Khajan Basti, a scrap market in Mayapuri Phase-II in west Delhi.

Six people are battling for their lives after being exposed to the radiation that went undetected for almost a month.

Sources at Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) told HT the radioactive waste recovered was commercial in nature and may have been used at biochemistry or a haematology laboratory.


Police said the waste in the form of “entangled wires and pellets” could have been brought from outside the country and was handed over to Deepak Jain, the scrap dealer, through an agent.

Jain is battling for his life at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals after sustaining prolonged exposure to the substance.

The officials of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) collected eight bags of the substance from two of Jain’s godowns located 300 metres away from each other.

“The material has been shielded in lead flasks and is being sent for examination. It was broken into many pieces and it was difficult to trace all of them. It constituted of Cobalt 60,” said S.K. Malhotra, spokesman, AERB.

It all started on March 12 when Jain got the substance to his godown and asked the labourers to dismantle it. He suffered hair loss, his skin corroded and his nails turned black.

Jain first consulted doctors in Uttam Nagar but when his condition deteriorated he was shifted to Apollo Hospital on April 4.

The radiation safety officer of the hospital then informed the officials of AERB and a two-member team visited the market on April 5.

The officials of BARC and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited were called on April 8 and after a 12 hour operation the area was declared safe on Friday at 1 pm.

“We have registered a case of endangering life due to negligence, the other technical sections are being looked into,” said Sharad Agarwal, DCP (west).
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

Time line

~March12th 2010: Scrap material arrives in Delhi Shop
~March 20th : Deepak Jain starts feeling sick
April 1 (Thursday) goes to local hospital and gets transferred to Apollo Hospital on the 4th.
April 4 Apollo Hospital notifies AERB that it has a case of radiation sickness
April 4th thru April 10th Investigation/segregation of contaminants etc.
negi
BRF Oldie
Posts: 13112
Joined: 27 Jul 2006 17:51
Location: Ban se dar nahin lagta , chootiyon se lagta hai .

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by negi »

Can resident doctors and other in know throw some light on procedures in place in Hospitals or clinics with regards to disposal of used/non functional equipment , specially the ones which are to be phased out from the Radiology department ?
niran
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5535
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 16:01

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by niran »

Sanatanan wrote:
Aren't the institutions / establishments (big or small) operating such Co-60 sources subject to periodic physical (on-site) "safeguards inspections" by appropriate regulatory authorities more or less on the same lines as the IAEA inspections conducted on npps? If this is the case, then illegal transfer of ownership of the Co-60 source to ill qualified person(s) or institution(s), without being detected, would not be possible (since working of the "pursuit" principle might preclude this from happening). Co-60 finding its way to the scrap market along the suggested route above would imply that the Regulation was not sufficiently effective in this case or was somehow circumvented. I, for one, do not feel that this might be the case in this instance.

A scenario about which there does not seem to be any speculative reports as yet is the possibility that this particular incident might have a "terrorist" angle (or be the handiwork of person(s) with malafide intentions), enacted to coincide with MMS's visit the US to attend a conference on nuclear security where he is expected to push for India to be allowed to host the proposed Global Centre on Nuclear Security (in return for agreeing to sign the NPT as a non-weapon country?).

However, an aspect of the above postulate would be that the person(s) who handled the radioactive source into the scrap yard would themselves have been exposed to radiation (might even have been lethal), unless they brought it in a shielded container and took the container away after remotely ejecting the source.
The inspection is supposed to take place 2 times in a year. Now the process is

Institute A has some machinery with radioactive source, it is supposed to inform the regulatory authority
within 6 months after the source is bought/ used/ installed(different state uses different markers as the starting point). The catch is "Authorities have to be informed" and they will do the inspection whether it is properly installed
etc. etc. if Institute A lets say after 3 years inform that now it has new model source, the authorities will inspect the new source, the older source is forgotten or lost, see no affasar worth his salt will bother to dust off old files and read it, including jotting down the model number etc. absolutely unpractical. The team will come inspect and
report about the usage.

the second owner may or may not register. both cases are legal, in the paper work it will most likely show that
the second owner onlee "borrowed" the source from institute A, not bought, this is a gray area,
no legislation exists as to what should be done with "Borrowed" radioactive source.

The disposal is different mater with different laws, will write it up later.
Last edited by niran on 11 Apr 2010 06:49, edited 1 time in total.
Gerard
Forum Moderator
Posts: 8012
Joined: 15 Nov 1999 12:31

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Gerard »

http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/10/stories ... 650100.htm
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is meant to maintain a ‘cradle to grave' system to keep track of such equipment, including through on-site inspections. But given its manpower limitations, radioactive material does get ‘orphaned', eventually finding its way to the scrap market.

India is not alone in facing this problem. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reported losing track of over 1,500 sealed sources since 1996, with more than half that number untraceable.

Though India has a good record as far as physical security of its nuclear premises and materials accounting are concerned, its system for tracking sealed radioactive sources is one area which needs strengthening. For example, of the 1,485 institutions in which the 7,850 nucleonic gauges are located, the AERB conducted just 16 inspections in 2008-09. Similarly, for 505 industrial radiography units, only 39 inspections were done.

If the source was imported as part of a larger scrap consignment, the lapse is serious since ports and airports are supposed to be equipped with Geiger counters. Reportedly, the source was in wire form. In India, Co-60 sources are made only in the form of pellets.

Compared to earlier incidents involving radioactive sources, the latest case in Delhi appears far more serious. From the reported symptoms of one of the patients, the incident is clearly one of Acute Radiation. This implies the source must have been a high intensity one. Such Co-60 sources are used, for example, in radiography equipment in industry though it has been so extensively hammered and damaged that it is difficult to tell whether it was an industrial or medical source.
Samay
BRFite
Posts: 1167
Joined: 30 Mar 2009 02:35
Location: India

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Samay »

IMO , the stages from where it came could be tracked , by searching for radiation on the vehicle,the secondary dealers, and ultimately from the organization where it was originally sold , should be penalized,.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

Radiation victims continue to be critical
....
No clue yet

The police here are yet to ascertain the origin of the metal scrap containing radioactive cobalt-60 isotope that exposed at least six persons to radiation injuries.

The police are waiting to record the statement of the scrap shop owner, Deepak Jain, who is admitted to Apollo Hospital in a serious condition, to find out the origin of the scrap consignment.

They are also questioning other scrap dealers in Mayapuri to identify the places from where they get metal scrap.

I think we can throw different causes for this incident.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

Looks like they are rushing to fix the causes with out digging deep. :(


SOURCE

Radioactive Exposure Case Prompts Disaster Management System to Take Measures
Submitted by Amit Pathania on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 18:15

Radioactive Exposure Case Prompts Disaster Management System to Take Measures

A case related to radioactive exposure in New Delhi has prompted India's Disaster Management System to come in to action.

Commenting on the situation, the Government said that it will introduce a new policy which would make it binding for scrap dealers to inform about any radioactive exposures. :?: Meanwhile, Disaster Management Authorities stated that they would ensure that radiation detection equipment is set up on every police vehicle.

On Thursday night, Deepak Jain, a scrap dealer and 4 of his helpers, sustained injuries after they were exposed to hospital waste, which was found to be radioactive in nature, in West Delhi's Mayapuri area. Jain, admitted at the Apollo Hospital, is reported to be in a critical condition.

National Disaster Management Authority, which is leading the initiative, stated that the Home Ministry will soon call the State Chief Secretaries for a meeting, to discuss ways of installing radioactive detection kits on police vehicles.

B. Bhattacharjee, a Nuclear Scientist at NDMA, said, "The documents are with the home ministry and the process of installing equipment on police vehicles would start soon".
They don't know how the Co-60 got to the scrap yard, yet they want to mandate scrap yard owners to notify about radiation exposure? How will the guy know he has been exposed to radiation?
niran
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5535
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 16:01

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by niran »

i have gleaned this much from the available information.

- the victims suffered exposure to radiation after they attempted
to was off the lead container.

This is the standard practice. The Lead containers are heavy, wheighing
around 80 kgs for 1 slab of Cobalt 60. easy money. similar accident ocured
in Thailand, where the Lead containers were kept in the open parking lot
of the company supposed to dispose it off. 2 scrap collectors( raddiwala)
saw the heavy metallic objects, and took them(there were 5 boxes) and sold them to a Scrapy, in order to ascertain its true weight and not to allow the scrapy to cheat them, these 2 gentlemen used oxyacetylene torches to cut open the boxes. all present fell sick with acute giddyness, dizzyness, blurred vision and vomiting. they decided that some evil spirit have punished them
for dealing in stolen objects, it was decided that they would together perform
merit making later when they were fit and left 3 tubes open, which caused radiation to spread involving almost 1000s. with around 183 falling sick
immediately,(of these only 3 have survived). The public was fortunate in the sense that there was a Radiologist working in ER (to earn more of course), he made on the spot diagnosis of sever radiation exposure, and the world came to know of it.

The company which had taken money for the disposal had first stored them
an unused scraped company car, later when they sold the car, the tubes were simply left around one corner.
To the question as to why tubes were not properly disposes? a 800 page
hogwash was presented to the court, but we can take a safe guess, that to save money, they thought to simply store the tubes until the radiation comes down and to sell them to scrapy themselves.

though people say that these containers have the yellow fan like mark on them which denote that it is a Radioactive substance. but how many of scrap dealers/collectors know about it?
Raja Bose
BRF Oldie
Posts: 19478
Joined: 18 Oct 2005 01:38

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Raja Bose »

It looks like the scrap dealer Deepak Jain has his fate sealed. :(

How in God's name do the authorities want scrap dealers to notify of radioactive exposure?? Anyways by that time it is too late for the person involved such as Mr. Jain. In case of smaller scrap dealers, they wont even have regular records of where they obtained the scrap and a lot of times may even have falsified records for other purposes.
Singha
BRF Oldie
Posts: 66601
Joined: 13 Aug 2004 19:42
Location: the grasshopper lies heavy

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Singha »

how costly are geiger counters? would it be affordable for scrap dealers dealing in
big eqpt to mandatorily buy them for their own safety?
Raja Bose
BRF Oldie
Posts: 19478
Joined: 18 Oct 2005 01:38

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Raja Bose »

^^ Problem is not the big guys but the comparatively small fish like these fellas.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

The first action should be to find out how the Co-60 source got to the scrap yard.
Then they need to ensure such stuff doesnt get to unauthorised places.
To do this they need regualtory mechanism along with enforcement.

Is there are requirement to have the permanent yellow fan markings/sticker on all radiation sources?
Is there a law to prevent shipping to unauthorized entities/places?
Are all the scrap yards aware of the hazard markings?
Are all the doctors aware of reporting requirements for radiation sickness? And trained to recognize the sickness?

Are there regulations on importing scrap with radiation hazard?
Are the importers aware of the problems?

If the source was foreing what is the mechanism inplace to prevent future shipments?

Is there a sweep program in place to look at all scrap yards for similar hazards? This is definitely not only instance of Co-60 source being scrapped.
Add to all this there is the terrorist angle.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

Pioneer report 4/10/2010...

No help form Govt, says victim's relative
No help coming from Govt, says radiation victim’s relative

Staff Reporter | New Delhi

Even while mystery prevailed over the source of Cobalt-60 that leaked from a scrap dealer's shop in the Capital causing radiation injuries to five people, police on Saturday hinted that the radioactive substance could have come from Gujarat. Police said the sea port in Gujarat being nearest to Delhi could be the source of the substance coming to the city.

"Cobalt-60 is mainly supplied to India from Iran and Iraq via sea route. The radioactive substance could have come from Alang in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, as it has a huge ship recycling yard. It is quite possible that the radioactive element was carried to Delhi in containers," said a senior police officer. At the same time, police also did not deny it being industrial waste given the use of such elements for medical research and industrial purposes.

Police on Saturday questioned the family members of scrap dealer Deepak Jain to find the clues in the case but failed to make any headway, as the family of the victim had absolutely no idea regarding the same. The condition of Jain and four others is too critical for recording of their statements to be possible. Police also questioned the local scrap dealers and close aides of Deepak Jain but nothing concrete was found. "The substance came to Delhi nearly a month ago. It is very difficult to trace its source without talking to the victims," the official said.

Businessman Deepak Jain and four others would have never imagined that his source of bread and butter will one day ask for his life. The family members of the victims exposed to the radioactive material last week are now looking for bone marrow and shuttling between the premier hospitals of the Capital for the last few days. The condition of the five persons who were exposed to Cobalt-60 at the scrap market in Mayapuri Industrial Area is still critical and their bone marrow is significantly damaged. Scrap metal dealer Deepak Jain suffered severe burns and is battling for his life at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital while four others -- Gaurav, Rajendra Prasad, Ramjee Yadav and Ram Kalab -- have been shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre. They were earlier admitted in Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital.

According to doctors, Deepak Jain's bone marrow is significantly destroyed and he continues to be in an unconscious state. He is kept in the ICU and a multidisciplinary team of doctors is monitoring his progress. Jain's relative Rajesh alleged that the Government so far has not made any effort to financially help or otherwise assist the victims.

"We are praying for Deepak's recovery. Never did we think that this business will result in a killer disease that would threaten to take his life," said Rajesh who, along with several family members, has been camping at Apollo Hospital for the last several days.

"We are investigating the patients and several tests have been conducted. They may need bone marrow transplants but a confirmation of this will only emerge in a day or two," a senior doctor at the Trauma Centre said. A senior official at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital said Jain continues to be in a critical condition since the day of his admission.

"We are keeping a close tab on his health and have been updating atomic energy experts of the Government of India," the official said. The radiation was caused by exposure to radioactive material Cobalt-60, a hard and lustrous transition metal found associated with nickel, silver, lead, copper and iron ore and resembling nickel and iron.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) had received information from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital that Jain, who owns a scrap metal shop in Mayapuri, was showing symptoms of suspected exposure to radiation. Jain's body turned black after he touched the material, according to eyewitnesses. The Crisis Management Group in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was activated and a team of officers from DAE and AERB was sent to New Delhi with a wide range of radiation monitoring and detecting equipment for prompt identification and recovery of the radioactive pieces and their safe disposal.

Upon its visit to the site, the team monitored the radiation levels at various positions at the scrap shop and in adjoining areas. "Such materials are used in industry for radiography, nucleonic gauges for thickness measurement and in medical applications," a DEA official said. The source of radiation was located and was then shielded with locally available steel scrap to reduce the radiation level in the surroundings. The area was sanitised thereafter.
So most likely the scrap came from abroad. How did the shipyard get the scrap?
niran
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5535
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 16:01

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by niran »

ramana wrote: 1-Is there are requirement to have the permanent yellow fan markings/sticker on all radiation sources?
2-Is there a law to prevent shipping to unauthorized entities/places?
3-Are all the scrap yards aware of the hazard markings?
4-Are all the doctors aware of reporting requirements for radiation sickness? And trained to recognize the sickness?

5-Are there regulations on importing scrap with radiation hazard?
6-Are the importers aware of the problems?
Answer
1- Yes, it is required, to have the Yellow fan symbol on every Radioactive Radiation emitting material.

2-Yes, there is a Law, albeit porous as a sieve.

3-No, mostly the least educated are Scrap dealers, and any comments on collectors educational status
is superfluous.

4- Divide in two parts
(1)- Doctors are aware of the requirements to report.
(2)- Only bookish knowledge is present, only few will ever see a real patient in his life time,
AFAIR this part was so important that Hakeemi Guruji will conveniently advise students to
read from the book and students will scan old question papers and find no mention,
are going to forget reading(huge coincidence of course)

5- Radioactive scrap is prohibited to be imported.
6- what peerobelem saar? arre sab chalta hai saab!! aap do not ghabrao! i will take care!
Saar you just enjoy Cold drinks it is very hot now a dins no?
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

I guess till we hear from Mr Deepak Jain, we wont know how the Co-60 got to his scrap yard.
omb
Its quite important to get to the root of it for following reasons:

People's safety is impacted
India's reputation on how rad waste is handled is impacted
Export of steel products could be impacted due to rad contamination
Entities can ship rad waste to scrap yards with impunity
Small chance that terrorists can get hold of the rad waste and make dirty bomb
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

X-post from Shyamd in Internal Secuirty Thread...

Five Indians injured by dirty bomb material in Delhi market
DEBKAfile Special Report April 12, 2010, 3:27 PM (GMT+02:00)

Cobalt-60 can be used for making dirty bomb

Five people suffering serious burns were hospitalized in West New Delhi this week from contact with radioactive material in a Delhi scrap market identified as Cobalt-60 which may be used for making a dirty bomb. Indian police cordoned off the 200 market stores and sealed nearby establishments up to a one-kilometer radius. Scrap dealer Deepak Jain and his helpers lost consciousness when they cut a piece of scrap metal. A white fluid oozed out causing the burns, Jain's hair fell out and within minutes his skin turned black. His workers suffered and nausea.
All five are battling for their lives in hospital, setting off a security scare in the Indian capital, with prime minister Manmohan Singh briefed on the incident before leaving for Washington to attend the nuclear security summit which opened Monday, April 12.
Nuclear scientists from the Baba Atomic Research Center and Narora Atomic Power Plant identified the material and are working around the clock to investigate its source.

debkafile's sources report that German chancellor Angela Merkel has asked to talk with Obama about the dirty bomb terrorist threat when they meet Tuesday.

Cobalt-60 is used in radiotherapy for treating cancer and welding steel. A US report last year recommended monitoring this material along with Caesium-137, Strontium-90 and Plutonium to effectively counter nuclear terrorism. Unlike a nuclear bomb, a dirty bomb does not involve nuclear fission and can be used like a conventional weapon.

Ahead of the Washington conference, US president Barack Obama called nuclear terror "the single biggest threat to US security, short term, medium and long-term."

The day before the conference, the Indian prime minister met Obama and tackled him about Pakistan's inaction against Muslim terrorists and exhorted him to jointly combat terror emanating from Pakistan as the most dangerous source of potential nuclear terror. According to debkafile's military and intelligence sources, the Indian and US leaders failed to agree on whether Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was sufficiently secure. Indian leaders as well as their military and intelligence advisers have repeatedly warned Washington that al Qaeda and Taliban were moving in on Pakistan's nuclear facilities through their deep penetration of Pakistan's intelligence service and may soon be in position to take over.

In his previous conversations with Obama, Singh reported that Israeli intelligence shared India's assessment of the Pakistani nuclear hazard.

After his interview with the Indian prime minister, Obama discussed nuclear security with Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who also arrived for the summit. The US president said Islamabad must do more to combat the terrorists infiltrating India for terrorist attacks.
Pakistani officials said later that Gillani assured the US president that Pakistani takes nuclear security seriously and appropriate safeguards are in place. They reported that the US president said he was satisfied with those measures, but this was not confirmed by US administration sources.
Just because Indians want to clsoe their eyes others are not going to do the same and see the potential danger lurking.

Scenario:

- ISI and its handlers ship Co-60 containers to scrap yards
- Local sleeper cell assembles the dirty bum and
- Another module takes over and sets it off in Indian city
KrishG
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 1290
Joined: 25 Nov 2008 20:43
Location: Land of Trala-la

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by KrishG »

ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

As part of the nuke security summit there should be legal prohibitions on shipping rad waste to other countries.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

x-post...
NEW DELHI: Just as the scrap market at Mayapuri was returning to normalcy after radioactive cobalt-60 exposed six people to radiation there, the monitoring agencies claimed on Tuesday they had found another source of radiation -- the ninth in the area -- still active. This startling claim came after a seventh person, Bablu alias Babulal, was admitted to AIIMS with symptoms of radiation exposure.

A four-member team from the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), another 17-member squad of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Disaster Response Force and an expert from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) were headed for Mayapuri on Tuesday night.

``We have been alerted about one more source in the Mayapuri area when our team went to collect more samples after another person was admitted to hospital on Monday night, said Dr B Bhattacharya, member, NDMA. ``It is smaller than the earlier one as the radiation emitted by it is not strong.''

``The BARC and the AERB teams are expected to reach the capital by 11pm and they are expected to head directly to Mayapuri. By early morning, they will visit the site and send us a detailed report. We were informed around 12 noon,'' said Bhattacharya.

The latest developments have led to panic among the residents. ``We hope this time they will find all the sources. We cannot live with this fear,'' said Ashok Kumar, a scrap dealer. On April 8, an alert was sounded in Mayapuri after a scrap dealer, his four employees and another person were reported to be showing symptoms of radiation exposure.

Deepak Jain, the scrap dealer who had received the object which was the source of radiation, had been first taken to AIIMS and then on April 4 to Apollo Hospital which sounded an alarm. He is in a critical state now with his bone marrow significantly suppressed. The others are in AIIMS.

The experts had identified the radioactive material as cobalt-60, a radioactive isotope of cobalt. The police said on Tuesday they were investigating whether it had been imported from outside the country. They had gone to the hospital on Tuesday to record the statement of the four workers but the doctors looking after them asked them to return a few days later since they were not yet fit to give a statement.

The police has formed 17 teams to investigate the case. ``We are yet to get the final report from the specialists. At present, we are studying the procedure adopted by scrap dealers to procure the scrap through online bids from outside the country to try and get some leads. However, we will wait for the reports before deciding on our next step,'' said DCP (west) Sharad Aggarwal.

According to experts, the nature of the radioactive substance that was recovered from Mayapuri suggests that neither was it produced in India, nor did it come from a hospital. ``Cobalt-60 is usually found inside lead compartments. In this case, the substance was found on wires suggesting this was to be used for industrial purposes,'' said a senior scientist from BARC.

West district police said the intial investigations by BARC had revealed that the product did not have a proper seal. They said the state health department has asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation's Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Applied Sciences to send a team to the affected area to check the health of the local residents affected by the radiation. ``A team has been constituted and the entire area will be scanned in the next few days,'' said an officer.
They should also scan or sweep the scrap dealerships. If they have manpower issues they should give the scrap yard dealers pictures of the suspect items and have them sweep theri areasa and report any suspect objects.

A question for the physicts. Till now the idea was that the radiation sources was in a cask or container and that got scrapped. What application is there for Co-60 in wire or rod form? Is this illegal dumping of rad waste?
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

Digging in wiki I found that cobalt rod is used for Alnico magnets. Co-60 is not available in rod/wire form industrially.
Where as regular cobalt is.

So most likely the Co rod/wire forms were irradiated in a research reactor type of environment and dumped as waste.
Arunkumar
BRFite
Posts: 643
Joined: 05 Apr 2008 17:29

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Arunkumar »

Singha wrote:how costly are geiger counters? would it be affordable for scrap dealers dealing in
big eqpt to mandatorily buy them for their own safety?
GM counter based detectors are not that expensive and IIRC basic models should be available for less than Rs 10000.

Some manufacturers from India and their models are listed in the center of this webpage :
http://www.185.la/doc/7632_Low-cost-dig ... dosemeter/
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

X-posted...
Gerard posted:
Two new radioactive sources at Mayapuri
In what substantially raises the danger of accidental radiation exposure at the Mayapuri junk market, nuclear experts combing the area on Wednesday detected two new sources of the radioactive material, cobalt-60, at a shop least one kilometre away from the site where the hazardous metal was found earlier.

The source of the latest cobalt-60, experts said, seems to different from the previous discovery which had led to serious injuries to seven handlers.
Looks like a lot of rad waste was being dumped in Mayapuri scrap iron complex.
Sanatanan
BRFite
Posts: 487
Joined: 31 Dec 2006 09:29

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Sanatanan »

Article by Dr K.S Parthasarathy:

Lessons to be learnt from Delhi radiation incident

I am not clear on one aspect regarding the configuration of the culprit radioactive source in this incident. Dr Parthasarathy's article does not seem to clarify it.

Was the source of radiation a Co-60 slug / pellet that was removed (by cutting away the shielding) from a radiographic camera ?

Or

Did radiation emanate from radioactive Cobalt which happened to be in an alloy form in the tangled bundles of barbed wire fencing that were found in the scrap yard as had been suggested by some reports? I recollect seeing reports indicating that the culprit radiation emanated from bundle(s) of "steel wire".

If it is the latter, then, there may be three possible routes through which it could have happened:

a) The fencing wire could have been manufactured ("wire draw" process) from a "billet" which in turn, is made from an "ingot" into which radioactive Co-60 --from a gamma source used for quality control of the ingot in the molten condition -- had got mixed into the steel at the time of melting.

b) The parent material from which the wire was drawn came from discarded structural steel that had been used in the internals of a reactor (or a source of neutrons). Normal steel has Co-59 as an impurity and would be the default material unless "cobalt-free" steel has been specified at the time of reactor construction. This might have got irradiated in the reactor and thus Co-60 might have formed in it.

c) The bundle of wire came from some nuclear waste treatment plant where it had got contaminated with other radioactive products and had been "scrapped" without being adequately decontaminated first.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

Sanatanan,
Good question. The RCA is stymied for we dont know the nature or origin of the material. Very vague despite so many scientists being involved in the briefings. I understand they want o interview Mr jain, but that would be to determine how he obtained the material? Why cant they be specific about what was fond to put to rest speculation? And why isn't there a spokesman to brief the media?

Might want to contact:

K.S. PARTHASARATHY

FORMER SECRETARY, AERB



ksparth@yahoo.co.uk

And see if he wants to respond.

ramana
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

negi wrote:Can resident doctors and other in know throw some light on procedures in place in Hospitals or clinics with regards to disposal of used/non functional equipment , specially the ones which are to be phased out from the Radiology department ?
Don't know much about hospitals in India but to put it in perspective in nuclear physics labs the regulations are not that stringent.. From what I know,(have used them in lab in past), most of the regulation is voluntarily. In US (NRC/EPA have rules/guidelines - some states have their own guide lines/rules/regulations), for example from this site one says:
No NRC license required!
All our radioactive isotopes are legal to purchase & own by the general public.
They require no special licensing, handling, storage or disposal.
Link: http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main ... &cPath=2_5
(One can get cobalt -60 from here)

After 9/11 many things changed, one reference to get the NRC requirements wrt to Cobalt-60 (can be used as starting point for other reference info)
http://www.nrc.gov/security/byproduct/p ... eting.html
Prior to September 11th, 2001, the NRC focus was on the safety and security of people and the environment by protecting from the inadvertent or accidental release of radioactive material. The attacks of 2001 led the NRC to re-think how far a terrorist would go to hurt the public, perhaps using medical and industrial radioactive materials to cause harm. The NRC joined with the international community to look at medical and industrial radioactive materials with this as its main consideration. This effort was lead by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with active participation by the NRC. As part of this process, the NRC reviewed the chemical, physical, and radiological characteristics of each radioactive material for its attractiveness to a terrorist. This effort identified 16 radioactive materials that could pose a serious threat to people and the environment in the wrong hands. This effort further identified the different quantities or “thresholds” of materials that could be useful to a terrorist. The IAEA published these results in a document titled “Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources.”
A link to document on the NRC website is at http://www.nrc.gov/security/byproduct/e ... rity.html.

For general information about Cobalt-60 (Where cobalt-60 comes from/ what is it used for /health effects and protecting the public etc)
Try:
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionucli ... tml#basics

Hope this helps.
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

4-Are all the doctors aware of reporting requirements for radiation sickness? And trained to recognize the sickness?
Generally, I believe, to diagnose cobalt-60 poisoning (or other radiation sickness) (assuming competent medical facility) is not hard - testing, say, urine will detect (and estimate how serious the dose was) cobalt-60.. not to mention body radiation counters (gamma rays) will detect it ( Outside some of nuclear labs you have "alpha/beta hand/feet counters" type scanners, and tags for workers for regular monitoring )

BTW wrt to
We have so many techies on the forum How about doing a root cause analysis of this Co-60 in the Delhi scrap Iron dealership?
IMO (no disrespect to all the techies here :)) old fashioned police investigation (where the scrap material came from/who is responsible etc) would be relatively more useful in finding the root cause and holding people accountable...)
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

The Hindu article is quite informative. I will highlight those sentences of interest.
My coding was red for this incident and green for corrective action already in place. The black is suggested corrective action. Looks like the author thinks the radiation from "orphan sources" is from imported material.

What are the regulations in the exporting countries to ship rad contaminated materials? And in India for receiving the materials.
Since the stuff comes to Alang shipyard in Gujarat can there be a taskforce(AERB and Customs) to check the scrap steel as it comes in to reduce orphan sources by way of imported scrap?
And further in the Nuclear materials security summit aftermath, can there be regualtions in the exporting countries to prevent the shipment of rad waste?

Image

Photo: K. PIchumani

The source: Virtually all instances of steel contamination seem to have been caused by radioactive sources which came with imported scrap.
Lessons to be learnt from Delhi radiation incident

At 12:45 hrs on April 7, 2010 the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) received a fax message from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi stating that a scrap metal dealer admitted to the hospital showed symptoms suspected to be caused by radiation exposure.

Six more workers who also exhibited similar symptoms were admitted elsewhere. On receiving the information, two AERB officers who were already in Delhi inspected the shop and its surroundings, identified high radiation levels and promptly shielded some suspected high radiation locations with metal sheets to reduce the radiation levels.

As per the procedure in place, a team of scientists from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)and the Narora Atomic Power Station , mobilized by the Crisis Management Group of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and scientists from AERB visited the site again and restored normalcy by safely removing the sources into appropriately shielded containers. By April 9, 2010, the radiation levels at the site became normal background radiation levels.

“It was indeed a difficult operation; we collected cobalt-60 sources of high strengths in the form of wires under trying circumstances and secured them in special containers. We instituted strict dose control procedures which ensured that the radiation doses to us were within limits,” said Dr. K.S.Pradeep Kumar, Senior Scientist and Head, Emergency Response System and Methods Section.

“We learnt a few lessons. The team from Narora brought many tools and accessories; their support proved to be very crucial, he clarified. He paid compliments to the excellent cooperation extended by the Delhi police.

A handful of radiation incidents in which persons got exposed to very high radiation doses occurred in India. Most of the cases were because of gross violation of safety procedures in handling industrial gamma radiography sources.

In the most serious case, a railway gang man received high dose as he kept gamma source in his pocket for a few hours. The source was lost in transit because of negligence of radiation workers in a company. Follow up action led to the winding up of the company.

The victim pocketed the shining object assuming that it is valuable. He was admitted into BARC Hospital initially for three months and was followed up for one and a half years. He survived after several skin drafts and other procedures.

The Delhi incident was a serious one. That such incidents were rare would be poor consolation for those seven persons who were exposed to radiation. There must be zero tolerance to such events.

AERB had suggested several preventive measures ( The Hindu, Nov 13, 2008). In the light of a few steel contamination incidents, AERB proposed to put in place a multi layered radiation check system ( The Hindu, February 26, 2009). These need closer review, strengthening and more effective enforcement.

Many scrap dealers have bought radiation monitors. The proposal to erect radiation monitors at major ports is yet to be implemented. Since virtually all instances of steel contamination seem to have been caused by radioactive sources which came along with imported scrap, radiation monitors must be installed urgently at all ports. The radiation incident at Delhi must be considered as the final wake up call. There are plans to equip selected police stations in major cities with radiation monitors. The task is humongous but achievable through dedicated efforts.

Radiation exposure from “orphan sources” was a topic of discussion in many meetings held by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 1998.An initial review indicated that, more than 110 countries may not have minimum infrastructure to properly control radiation sources (IAEA, 1999).

Since 1990, 300 radioactive sources were recovered from Georgia. There were instances in which intense radiation sources used in agricultural research such as mutation studies were found abandoned in trucks

In the United States alone, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) annually receives about 200 reports of lost, stolen or abandoned radioactive sources. This is disconcerting as U.S. has a stringent regulatory system. AERB receives less number of reports annually, presumably because we have far less number of sources in use. Also as in U.S., AERB has a very effective system to track high intensity sources.

K.S. PARTHASARATHY

FORMER SECRETARY, AERB

......
One thing I dont understand is the railway gangman picked up a piece of material (most likely pure C0-60 sample) and suffered 3 month hospitalization. However Deepak Jain and the six others came into contact with C0-60 in wire form and are down and out so badly? Was the wire almost C0-60 or whats the story?
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

One thing I dont understand is the railway gangman picked up a piece of material (most likely pure C0-60 sample) and suffered 3 month hospitalization. However Deepak Jain and the six others came into contact with C0-60 in wire form and are down and out so badly? Was the wire almost C0-60 or whats the story?
Half life of Co-60 is about 5 years, so purity (or ratio of radioactive Co to harmless Ni) depends on, among other things, how old the samples were. The total amount of radiation depends on, obviously, length of exposure, proximity to source, intensity of radioactivity. (which depend on amount of radioactive isotope)..(Gamma rays can easily pass through skin, but even then, if the part is inhaled or eaten, or absorbed through skin, it can cause more damage)

Wrt to "orphan sources" here is what (epa.gov site says):
Occasionally, medical or industrial radiation sources are lost or stolen. We call these "orphan sources." They pose a significant risk:

On a number of occasions, people have handled them, not knowing what they were, and have been exposed.

Sometimes sources find their way into municipal landfills, where it is illegal to dispose of them.

Because of their metallic housings, sources can get mixed in with scrap metal and pass undetected into scrap metal recycling facilities. If melted in a mill, they can contaminate the entire batch of metal and the larger facility, costing millions of dollars in lost productivity and cleanup costs. The scrap industry uses radiation detectors to screen incoming material. However, sources that are under large loads may be undetected initially.
Cobalt-60 can also be released to the environment through leaks or spills at nuclear power plants, and in solid waste originating from nuclear power plants. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations allow small amounts of cobalt-60 to be released into the air, or poured down drains as part of a liquid.
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

Some Links: (Sorry if posted)
What caused radiation in Delhi's industrial hub? Cobalt-60
Fact sheet from Oak Ridge
CDC data for health hazard

And small source (which is from Oak Ridge Reactor - can be bought without NRC licence etc)
Image
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

AmberG, All those are for normal sources of C0-60 contamination. From the Hindu article and earleir ones, the Mayapuri Scrap Shop radiation source is multiple strands steel wire with contamination. The rad levels were high enough to put six-seven people in hospital. Now in the earlier case of railway gangman(Hindu Article) was contact with actual C0-60 source. Yet these contaminated wires had more severe rad levels than the earlier case. If half life is 5 years what was the original rad intensity of those scrap steel wires? Must be very high. If so was it scrap steel or case of dumping rad waste?
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

^^^^ From what I posted before:
Because of their metallic housings, sources can get mixed in with scrap metal and pass undetected into scrap metal recycling facilities. If melted in a mill, they can contaminate the entire batch of metal and the larger facility, costing millions of dollars in lost productivity and cleanup costs. The scrap industry uses radiation detectors to screen incoming material. However, sources that are under large loads may be undetected initially.
The contamination of Cobalt need not have come from nuclear waste (though one must look into it), IMO, as there is plenty used in medical and Industrial uses (from gamma ray source in scanners to irradiation of food - Spices in India's case) which would give the potency (per my rough calculation) as observed.

The steel from India has been in the news (particularly Viper Castings and also Bunts.Laxmi,SMK Steels and Pradeep Metals from recent articles)

For example: Radioactive Stainless Steel Found in Germany
In total, some 150 tons of material have been identified so far, spread across a wide range of material forms, from stainless steel wire wool, to bars, valves, castings and flat products. The radioactivity has been identified as coming from Cobalt 60, one of four isotopes of the normally non radioactive alloying element more often found in magnets and tool steels than stainless. Investigations have led the government to confirm one source, Vipras Castings from India.
Or : Finds of Radioactive Steel on the Rise in Germany
Their radiometers indicated unusually high levels of radiation. They measured a level of 71 microsieverts per hour, a level that in 24 hours would exceed the amount permitted for an entire year.
The officials reacted swiftly. They ordered that the container be put back on the ship immediately and be sent back to India.

This was, however, no isolated case. For months, similar cases have been found across Germany, all involving bits of metal contaminated with radioactive cobalt. And most of them come from the same source: three steelworks in India, in particular a company called Vipras Casting, based in Mumbai. Germany's environmental authorities are alarmed
....
Just how the radioactive isotope cobalt 60, which can be found in nuclear power stations or some medical technology, is finding its way into the Indian steel industry isn't completely clear. It may be that sources of radioactivity, from hospitals for example, are being thrown into blast furnaces along with other scrap. The resulting steel is then sold to to companies abroad..
(Sorry have not read all the posts here .. if duplicate I apologize)
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complain ... 29814.html
Deepak Jain, the injured scrap dealer, found the “ bright, shining object” among medical waste he had bought from a hospital in west Delhi. “ When he and his three workers opened the bag, they noticed that their hands were turning black and they fell unconscious, ” a senior police officer said.
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

FWIW some more data etc:
A question for the physicts. Till now the idea was that the radiation sources was in a cask or container and that got scrapped. What application is there for Co-60 in wire or rod form? Is this illegal dumping of rad waste?
FWIW: In physics lab the samples are small sealed in epoxy (so that it does not leak etc) and kept in container when not used.
Industrial use, as many have said before, samples are bigger - and Co can be mixed if melted with steel.

Co-60 is also used in welding of steel, and also embedded in the refractory material (as in bricks in blast furnace) (A radiation detector indicates refractory material wear - , small amount of Co-60 does go into the steel - but the level is allowed ) .. I don't know how or if this kind is used in India..--though some one told me that it is less common in US but more in India - don't know if that is correct)

quick search gave this incident from Auburn steel mill -
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-colle ... 83016.html
On February 21, 1983, a level gauge responded abnormally after a charge was
ladled into the casting machine. The shield on the gauge was then closed
but, the radiation monitor continued to respond abnormally. Subsequent
measurements with a Geiger counter indicated radiation emanating from some
recently cast rods and from a batch of molten steel. ... per
gram of Cobalt-60 (Co-60) distributed over more than 100 tons of steel. .... The origin of the Co-60 is not
known; however, we assume the source was introduced into the scrap steel
outside the Auburn facility. The company has had to shut down production
pending decontamination efforts at the facility. The cost of decontaminating
the plant is estimated at 1.2 million dollars.
Sanatanan
BRFite
Posts: 487
Joined: 31 Dec 2006 09:29

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Sanatanan »

Would be grateful for clarification on this point:

Is Cobalt used in medical radiographic equipment in the form of wire(s) and not "pellets" or slugs?

If the answer is "yes" then it may be helpful in reconciling various reports on this incident.

It is indeed surprising -- as ramana had opined similarly in his earlier post -- that investigators dealing with this incident (including Dr B. Bhattacharjee) have not given a cogent picture of the physical configuration of source of the culprit-radiation. Perhaps they do not know it themselves as of now; but I would tend to think that they are possibly working on a "sabotage" theory and hence do not want to reveal too much information.
ramana
Forum Moderator
Posts: 59773
Joined: 01 Jan 1970 05:30

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by ramana »

Amber G. wrote:http://www.complaintsboard.com/complain ... 29814.html
Deepak Jain, the injured scrap dealer, found the “ bright, shining object” among medical waste he had bought from a hospital in west Delhi. “ When he and his three workers opened the bag, they noticed that their hands were turning black and they fell unconscious, ” a senior police officer said.
Thanks AmberG. This report is first confirmation that Deepak Jain and his crew got contaminated with real Co-60 from a medical waste from West Delhi hospital. This would explain the severity of radiation exposure to him and his crew.

Question to Delhites: Which is this hospital in West Delhi that shipped radiation source as medial waste? And there should be exisitng laws to handle it.

Next puzzle is to explain the Co-60 in wires. These are being claimed to be imported scrap.

So we really have two root causes so far:

1) Radiation source scrapped as medical waste
2) Radiation contaminated wires in imported scrap
niran
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5535
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 16:01

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by niran »

Sanatanan wrote:
Is Cobalt used in medical radiographic equipment in the form of wire(s) and not "pellets" or slugs?
both forms. depend upon the make and model and uses.
e.g. for a supposedly pinpoint radio therapy Cobalt-60 in
form of wires wrapped around hollow pipes are used,
for large area radiation pellets are used.

Amber G. wrote:
Generally, I believe, to diagnose cobalt-60 poisoning (or other radiation sickness) (assuming competent medical facility) is not hard - testing, say, urine will detect (and estimate how serious the dose was) cobalt-60.. not to mention body radiation counters (gamma rays) will detect it ( Outside some of nuclear labs you have "alpha/beta hand/feet counters" type scanners, and tags for workers for regular monitoring )
Yes, it should not be hard per theory. the catch is, you have to think and include radiation sickness in your differential diagnosis to diagnose, and since Daktors are not supposed to see
a real radiation exposed patient in his lifetime they tend forget all about it and do not include
radiation sickness in their differential diagnosis. the first Diagnosis for Mr. D.Jain in Apollo was
an Acute case of some form of Leukemia, to ascertain the type of Leukemia, they did Bone Marrow studies where they found only few cells alive, which triggered the Radiation exposure
alarm.
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

Newspaper reports that 8 sources (Added later: 2 more sources found making it 10) they have found had radioactivity varying from 20R/hr to 1000R/hr (R=Roentgen ), Also per Dr Malhotra ( BARC) "sources were mostly buried under scrap and, therefore, were not as dangerous for the affected persons as could otherwise have been. Scrap shop owner was the most severely affected as he kept the source in a nearby box"
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100416/main7.htm

For reference in practical terms (That is for Co-60 type radiation)
1 Roentgen = 1 Rad = 1 Rem = .01 Gy = .01 Sv
(Gy and Sv are modern units)
(Roentgen measures the energy produced by gamma radiation in unit volume of air)
(Rad (.01 Gy) measures Absorbed Dose ( different materials receive the same exposure may not absorb the same amount of energy - for human 1 Roentgen = about same as 1 rad))
(Rem ( = .01Sv) - Biological effect 1 rad = 1 rem for Co-60 type radiation but may be 20 rem's for alpha decay)

For perspective, typical background radiation is about .003 Sv /yea. , 1000R/Hr ( =10Sv/hr IF all the radiation from the source radiated is absorbed - absorbed part would depend on time/distance from the source and would be very small fraction ) is quiet powerful. (Average radiation absorbed by Hiroshima victims was of the order of 0.5 to 1 Sv) -- 3 or 4Sv in short time would be lethal)
Niran wrote: ...Yes, it should not be hard per theory. the catch is, you have to think and include radiation sickness in your differential diagnosis ..
Yes, I was talking more theoretically/ideal situation .. in real life things may be far from perfect. Thanks for the insight.

Also DEALER WHO SOLD COBALT TO JAIN RAIDED ‎
Amber G.
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9265
Joined: 17 Dec 2002 12:31
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Post by Amber G. »

...From WSJ:
India Probes Radiation Scare
...The nuclear scientists who are carrying out tests on the radioactive material say they believe it came from overseas, though they don't have a theory yet on which country was the source
Rakesh Mehta, chief secretary of Delhi's city government, held a meeting Friday with environmental regulators and nuclear scientists to discuss potential responses to the radiation incident, including stepped up monitoring of scrap sites, and a push for better enforcement at the country's ports.

"The regulations are in place," Mr. Mehta said. "The problem is the implementation is not being done.".
..
Several experts said it was looking increasingly unlikely that the materials found at the New Delhi scrap shop came from medical equipment at Indian hospitals, based on the shape of what was recovered and other characteristics.

P.S. Negi, chief of medical physics at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in Delhi, said hospitals have to follow very strict rules set by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board to dispose of radioactive sources – which they do after five to seven years of usage in cancer therapy equipment. They seal the materials in lead flasks and ship them to government research centers under tight security.

"There's been no evidence yet that these materials are making their way into scrap," Mr. Negi said. "My conjecture is that it didn't come from a medical source in India."
Post Reply