An orphan source is a self-contained radioactive source that is no longer under proper regulatory control.
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines an orphan source more exactly as:
...a sealed source of radioactive material contained in a small volume--but not radioactively contaminated soils and bulk metals--in any one or more of the following conditions
- In an uncontrolled condition that requires removal to protect public health and safety from a radiological threat
- Controlled or uncontrolled, but for which a responsible party cannot be readily identified
- Controlled, but the material's continued security cannot be assured. If held by a licensee, the licensee has few or no options for, or is incapable of providing for, the safe disposition of the material
- In the possession of a person, not licensed to possess the material, who did not seek to possess the material
- In the possession of a State radiological protection program for the sole purpose of mitigating a radiological threat because the orphan source is in one of the conditions described in one of the first four bullets and for which the State does not have a means to provide for the material's appropriate disposition
Read more about Orphan Source: Orphan Source Incidents
Famous quotes containing the words orphan and/or source:
“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 10:17,18.
“Might not the beatific vision become a source of boredom, in the long run?”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)