A batch of radioactive waste delivered to Moscow waste processing plant No. 2 was detained on Wednesday by police officers and the NPO Radon. When examining three trucks, specialists recorded increased background radiation. About 60 kg of medical materials contaminated with drugs based on iodine-131 and technetium-99m were found in them. The maximum dose of gamma radiation was more than 3 thousand microroentgens per hour, which is 150 times higher than the permissible norm. During the preliminary investigation, it turned out that one batch of “fouling” garbage came from hospital No. 20, another from the Ministry of Railways hospital, and where the third came from is being established. According to Radon employees, some short-lived radionuclides are used in medicine for diagnostic purposes. After their use, all medical materials that came into contact with them must be kept in hospitals for a certain period until the radionuclides completely disintegrate and only after that be submitted for recycling. However, staff often do not comply with these requirements. It is noteworthy that in one of the trucks the source of radiation turned out to be diapers for patients undergoing radiation therapy. The investigation of the incident was carried out by employees of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision Service, the environmental police and the State Emergency Situations Service.
