CBRN event in New Mexico, Albuquerque area, United States of America on Tue 14th April 2015

On April 14, 2015 Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) received an empty package from the Department of Defense (DOD), which was supposed to contain an inline alpha ionizer. The ionizer contained 10 mCi of PO210. SNL had shipped the ionizer to a DOD location to be used in an explosive handling activity. DOD personnel shipped the ionizer back to SNL on April 9, 2015. After an individual at SNL opened the package on April 14 and did not find the ionizer inside, the package and packing material were left on the floor. When the individual returned to work on April 23, the package was nowhere to be found. After questioning custodial service to see if the package had been picked up and conducting an extensive search, SNL declared the ionizer lost. Sandia Corporation reported the problem to the U.S. Department of Energy Noncompliance Tracking System on May 28, 2015. In response, SNL set about registering all ionizers in its database and improving its methods of tracking devices and accountable radioactive materials.