Missing Radioactive Material Is Found : Hazards: The case, which fell out of a truck, was emitting low levels of radiation in a Caltrans yard. Workers who handled it will be tested.

A 60-pound case of radioactive material that was missing for two weeks after it dropped off a truck in northern Los Angeles County was found Wednesday in a Caltrans lost-and-found yard where it was emitting low levels of radiation, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Although the steel-enclosed case is not considered a health risk, two Caltrans workers who handled it while picking up debris on the Golden State Freeway last week, and other employees at the Caltrans yard in Lebec, were expected to undergo medical evaluations.

“They are scared,” CHP Sgt. Jack Skaggs said of the workers. “The unknown is always scary. They picked it up and brought it here, not knowing what it was.”

Skaggs said the shoe-box-sized container’s steel skin was scraped when it fell out of a delivery truck June 25, and there was no warning sign on the case when it was found. The case contained iridium-192, a material used in X-ray processes, packed in a shield of uranium, Skaggs said.

The case was being trucked from Cleveland X-ray in Los Angeles to a construction firm in Bakersfield to be used in the X-raying of welds on pipes, the CHP said. When the truck arrived and the case was missing, the California Department of Transportation and the CHP were notified and a search began on the Golden State Freeway.

On June 29, two Caltrans workers picked the case up while on routine cleanup duty on the freeway near the Hungry Valley Road exit. Not knowing about the missing material, the workers took the container to the Caltrans yard in Lebec, where items found on the freeway that may be of value are kept in the event that owners come looking for them.

They placed the case on top of the yard’s wall, where it was recognized Wednesday morning by another Caltrans worker.

CHP Officer Mark Ehly said the case was removed by experts from the radiologic health branch of the state’s Department of Health Services. Before the container’s removal, testing of the area showed very low radiation.

“It is emitting a very low amount,” Ehly said. “It is not really harmful right now. It is pretty stable.”

CHP officers had no details on how the container fell from the truck and said health officials were investigating the manner in which the container was shipped.