Lost and found

What are Orphan sources?

Radioactive material that goes missing, is undocumented or incorrectly disposed of can lead to widespread environmental contamination and uncontrolled radiation exposure. These are known as Orphan Sources, which are sources of radioactive material that were never or are no longer under regulatory control¹. There are many reasons why the source is classified as unregulated, including¹:

There is no clearly identifiable party responsible for the material

The licensee can’t dispose of the materially safely or has few options to do so

The material is in possession of someone without a license, accidentally or intentionally

The material is in an uncontrolled condition. Therefore, it is a radiological threat and requires removal to protect public health and safety

The State or National radiological program has possession of the material. However, they don’t have the means to dispose of the material appropriately

Where have Orphan sources turned up in the past?

In the past, there have been several R&N accidents involving orphan sources. These orphan sources can turn up in various places. Many incidents have occurred where orphan sources are collected and then sold as scrap metal². A few notable examples are:

Goiânia, Brazil, 1985

A highly radioactive medical Caesium-137 radiotherapy source not under radiation protection surveillance was taken from an old therapy institute building³. The people who took the unit didn’t realise it was radioactive, nor did they realise that the source capsule was ruptured³. The radioactive source released was in the form of Caesium Chloride, which is highly soluble and readily dispersible, resulting in the external and internal contamination of many people and the environment³. After it had been ruptured, parts of the source assembly were sold for scrap to a junkyard owner³. Meanwhile, fragments of the source itself were sold to several people who were fascinated at the material being able to glow blue in the dark³.

A few days later, several people were showing gastrointestinal symptoms from the radiation exposure³. One irradiated individual connected the dots and contacted the public health department to report the incident³. 250 people were contaminated, and four people died from the exposure³. Since the accident, the Brazilian government and authorities have taken many steps to improve their radiation protection surveillance to ensure an incident like this doesn’t happen again³.

Istanbul Turkey, 1998/1999

Two packages used to transport Cobalt-60 teletherapy sources were broken open by the people who bought them and sold as scrap metal⁴. They therefore exposed themselves and several others to radiation from at least one unshielded Co-60 source⁴. Eighteen people were admitted to hospital with ten exhibiting clear signs of acute radiation exposure⁴.

Samut Prakarn, Thailand, 2000

A Cobalt-60 teletherapy head no longer in use was partially dismantled, taken from an unsecured storage location and sold as scrap metal⁵. Ten people received high doses of radiation from the source, with three dying due to the exposure within two months after the incident⁵ .

Current statistics

There a several other cases of radioactive sources going missing, being stolen, smuggled or disposed without authorisation⁶. From 1993 to 2024, a total of 4243 incidents of illegal or unauthorised activities involving R&N material were reported in the IAEA Incident and Trafficking Database (ITDB)⁶. Furthermore, last year alone, 147 incidents were reported to the ITDB⁷. 123 of these were most likely due to unauthorised disposal, unauthorised shipment or the discovery of radioactive material⁷.

What can be done in future

Although there are sufficient protocols and technology in place to manage these incidents, upscaling detection networks could further minimise their environmental, social and economic consequences by ensuring early detection and prevention.

Stay tuned for the next three blogs in this five-part series where we explore the other places and forms radiation can show up in.