
477
26
Radioactive Pillow
Shipment
26.1 BACKGROUND AND ANALYSES
In 2006, a consignment of pillows from a foreign manufacturer triggered a radiation
a
larm
at
a
U
S
p
ort,
e
stimated
at
t
he
f
acility
t
o
c
ontain
o
n
t
he
o
rder
o
f
1
0s–100s
o
f
Ci
o
f
p
enetrating
γ
r
adiation.
F
ield
x
-rays
o
f
t
he
i
solated
c
ontainer
v
eried
t
hat
n
o
a
pparently
h
azardous
c
omponents
w
ere
p
resent.
S
coping
N
DA
eld
me
asurements
o
f
t
he
q
uestioned
ca
rdboard
b
ox
w
ere
p
erformed
a
round
i
ts
s
urface,
w
ith
t
he
f
ollow-
ing
results:
•
β–γ
survey meter: >60k cpm at contact
•
α
survey meter: negative
•
P
resumptive ELITE kit for HE: negative
The
q
uestioned
c
ardboard
c
ontainer
w
as
t
hen
o
pened
i
n
a ...