CBRN event in Rhode Island, Providence area, United States of America on Thu 30th January 2014

On January 30 2014, two physicists in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Rhode Island Hospital were contacted about the arrival of a new High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy source. The source was delivered to the department on February 3, 2014, where a staff member at the front desk attempted to notify both physicists of the arrival of the source for sign off with the transporter. Since the front desk staff member was unable to get in touch with the physicists, he signed off for the package and moved the source to the 'mold room floor', an unsecured location. On February 14, 2014, the source was 'discovered missing' from the appropriate secure location it was supposed to be stored in, although they found the package in the mold room later in the day. Authorities quesitoned the front desk staff member, and the Radiation Safety team performed a wipe test on the material