CBRN event in India on Wed 25th April 2007

An industrial gamma radiography exposure device (IGRED) with 1.85 TBq (50 Ci) 192Ir source belonging to a radiography agency was stolen from a fertilizer factory on 25 April 2007. The lock of the source storage pit where the device was stored had been broken and IGRED was taken away along with its cranking unit and guide tube. The cranking unit and the guide tube of the device were later found in the factory premises but the device could not be traced. Extensive radiation surveys were carried out in the plant and also at scrap yards situated nearby but the source could not be traced. Search operations by police are continuing. No radiation injury has been reported. It appears that the device has been stolen for monetary gains. The device has adequate shielding and proper built-in locking mechanism and therefore inadvertent removal of the radioactive source from the device is not considered likely. Hence, the event is considered to be not significant from radiological safety point of view.The event is provisionally rated at level-2 on INES.