CBRN event in Netherlands on Thu 28th August 2008

On August 28, 2008, a production operator in the UltraTechnekow (UTK) lab at the Petten (the Netherlands) radiopharmaceutical production facility was contaminated with molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) on the skin of both hands, most significantly the right thumb. The contamination was discovered approximately 1.5 hours after shift started when employees monitor themselves for contamination before leaving the radiological zone for their regular scheduled break. Immediate decontamination and radiological surveys of the production area were initiated.
Preliminary calculations indicated that the employee potentially received a skin dose of between 1.2 Sv to 1.9 Sv on 1 cm2 on the right hand thumb. Other finger tips were contaminated as well, but to a much lesser extent. 
However, final calculations show that the employee received a local, maximum skin dose of approximately 220 mSv, less than the annual regulatory limit. During the extensive investigation and event reconstruction, it was determined that the employee unknowingly came into contact with a contaminated item during his pre-production preparation, for which gloves are not required.