Apparently, last evening a TSA VIPR Team detected a 'Nuclear Risk' on a METRA TRAIN on the UPRR West Line:
LInked Story (in part) article:
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/03/15/video-feds-swoop-in-on-metra-train-after-detecting-nuclear-risk/
FTA: "(CBS) — It was stunning for those who watched Thursday night as federal agents investigated a possible nuclear threat at Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center..."
'...Sources say the agents were members of the elite TSA VIPR team on the 5:04pm Union Pacific West line. They were carrying hand-held nuclear-detection devices that picked up a reading.."
"...The special security team must have picked up on him as he entered the station and walked up the stairs, Jones says. Little did he know a nuclear stress test he had at a hospital earlier in the day had set off silent alarms and sent security scurrying.
The TSA team passed by him several times before ending up on his train car. Finally, he got a clue when an agent questioned the man right next to him and asked, ‘Sir, do you have an explanation as to why I am getting a high isotope reading on your bag?’”
“The fellow’s jaw dropped,” Jones said.
"...Once the agent said the word “isotope,” Jones says he realized he was the one they were looking for. He raised his hand to say he had a nuclear stress test..."
I would imagine the lawyer was lucky he was not strip searched on the train; it was a good thing he was on a train and not at an airport...
"Stress test" was presumably Tc-99m/Cardiolyte perfusion while exercising. A few hours after the test, he will be emitting enough gamma's to produce dose rate noticeably above background (did some measurements with a survey meter after one of my stress tests). I wouldn't be comfortable getting into a crowded RR car after one of those tests. My cardiologist advised waiting a day or so after the stress test before even thinking about entering an airport or going across the border (Tc-99m has a 6 hour half-life, so waiting 24 hours would decrease the dose rate by a factor of 16).
The radiation detectors are designed for sensitivity and relatively low cost, the downside is that the energy resolution takes a hit and the detector has a hard time distinguishing between Tc-99m and special nuclear material.
A former co-worker told me amusing story about her experience with a Tc-99M scan, but you would have to know her to appreciate it.
- Erik
This is a variation on a theme. People who have had joint replacements encounter the same problem but their problem will never go away.
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