U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Operations Center Event Number: 57455

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT – SOURCE LOST IN TRANSIT

The following information was provided by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) via email:

“The licensee reported to NJDEP on December 3, 2024, that a Ge-68 pin source that they sent for disposal has been lost in transit on December 2, 2024. The source is a Eckert & Ziegler model HEGL-0132, with current approximate activity of 0.267 mCi. The shipping container arrived at its destination damaged and empty. The licensee has filed a claim with the shipper. If the source is not located within the 30 days, the licensee will follow-up with a full written report to include root cause(s) and corrective actions.

“This event is reportable under 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(ii).”

New Jersey Event Report ID number: To be determined

THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A ‘Less than Cat 3’ LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

Sources that are “Less than IAEA Category 3 sources,” are either sources that are very unlikely to cause permanent injury to individuals or contain a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause any permanent injury. Some of these sources, such as moisture density gauges or thickness gauges that are Category 4, the amount of unshielded radioactive material, if not safely managed or securely protected, could possibly – although it is unlikely – temporarily injure someone who handled it or were otherwise in contact with it, or who were close to it for a period of many weeks. For additional information go to https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf

SOURCE: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2024/20241213en.html#en57455

Why Is This News?

Due to recent drone activity in New Jersey and few real answers from the government, conspiracy theories run wild about what’s going on.

One such theory is that the drones are “sniffers” searching for nuclear particles.

Upon digging, the report on “Event Number 57455” came into the picture.

Looking at that report, there’s A LOT in there that won’t mean much of anything to most people.

Not being experts ourselves, from what we can deduce, this is related to a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Camera Calibration Rod that went missing in New Jersey.

Yes, this isn’t something you want to be playing with, but it also sounds like it isn’t something that would warrant a mass-scale deployment of sniffer drones.

Our Verdict

Keep digging. This is probably a nothing-burger and could very well be the powers that be “wagging the dog”.