CBRN event in Lebanon on Thu 19th April 2007

On April 19, 2007 the on field surveyors from the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission (LAEC) were performing their routine surveillance of the scrap containers prepared for export on Tripoli Port. Using handheld survey equipment (Exploranium GR-110), they measured a reading equivalent to 220 nanoSv/hr on a 20 ft container (background is around 70 nanoSv/hr). They unloaded the container and upon tracing the source of radiation they found a lead sphere-like object which was expected to be a source shield, within it a cesium-137 source was found. The shield had a broken identification metal tag bearing information about the source. The writing clearly stated it is a Cs-137 source with 30 mCi activity. It also held the company name: Endress+Hauser. The 'source holder' weighs around 80 kilograms, with a horizontal diameter of around 20 cm and a vertical diameter of around 30 cm. There is a cubic base of around 25 cm side length. The dose rate in the centre of the radiation-bundle at 10 cm distance of the source holder was about 0.6mSv/hr hour. The annex contains pictures of the recovered source. The scrapload by Al Tawil Company bought from Al Khaled. The origin of the source is still under investigation. The source has been transported to LAEC for temporary storage.