Radioactive Medical Device ‘Lost in Transit’ in New Jersey, NRC Report Says

A protester is seen in Japan in a file photo. AP Photo/Lee Jin-man

A small amount of radioactive material went missing during transit from a cancer treatment center in New Jersey, according to a report from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The report, dated Dec. 13, cited a statement from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on Dec. 3 that a “Ge-68 pin source that they sent for disposal has been lost in transit” on Dec. 2. The pin source uses the radioactive isotope germanium-68/gallium-68.

The source of the radioactive material, it said, was from an Eckert & Ziegler model HEGL-0132, a device used in PET scans. It has a “current approximate activity” of around 0.267 mCi, which stands for millicurie, a unit used to measure radioactivity, according to the report. The Nazha Cancer Center, which operates several locations in New Jersey, was identified as the licensee.

Aside from the missing radioactive material, “the shipping container arrived at its destination damaged and empty,” the NRC report said. “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.”

The Department of Environmental Protection was notified of the incident on the following day, Dec. 3, and the incident was reported to the NRC on Dec. 5, the report stated. The event was categorized as “Less than Category 3,” meaning it is considered not likely to cause harm to the public or individuals, and a “non-emergency.”

The classification “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,” the NRC report added.

On its website, GE Healthcare says that the GE-68 pin source in question referenced in the report is used to calibrate PET scanner systems that are also used to “provide a tissue density correction to permit accurate diagnostic scanning of patients.”

It comes amid rampant speculation on social media on a spate of recent drone sightings in New Jersey and New York, as well as in other East Coast states, in recent days. John Ferguson, CEO of Kansas-based Saxon Aerospace, said in a widely circulated video that the drones may be operated by the U.S. government and are checking for nuclear radiation or gas leaks.

“My own guess is that these drones are not nefarious in intent. If they are, they are, but I doubt it. But if they are drones, the only reason why they would be flying, and flying that low, is because they’re trying to smell something on the ground,” Ferguson said, noting that he is only speculating on why.

The Epoch Times contacted the NRC, Department of Homeland Security, and FBI on Ferguson’s claims but received no responses by publication time.

So far, no federal officials have publicly commented on his video, which was uploaded over the past weekend.

Federal officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, have said that the drones do not appear to pose a threat to public safety or national security, but Mayorkas said his agency lacks the authority to take action against the unmanned vehicles.

“In September of 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, changed the rules so that drones could fly at night,” the secretary told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. “And that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk.”

However, multiple elected officials—both Republican and Democratic—have called on the federal government to release more information about the drone sightings. Some, including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have pushed for high-technology drone detection equipment to be deployed in New York and New Jersey.

In a news conference on Monday, President-elect Donald Trump called on the federal government to be more transparent with the drone sightings, adding that he will not visit his golf resort in New Jersey, where some of the drones were found to be hovering.