https://abcnews.go.com/US/fact-chec...red-drone-theories-missing/story?id=116884712
Fact-check: Drones were not tracking missing radioactive material in New Jersey
The shipping container in question departed from the Nazha Cancer Center in Newfield, New Jersey, and contained an Eckert & Ziegler model HEGL-0132 device that arrived at its destination "damaged and empty," according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's original notice.
The device contains trace amounts of the radioactive isotope Germanium-68, which is used as a radiation source for one of the cancer center's CAT scan machines.
James Dalzell, M.D., at the Nazha Cancer Center, told ABC News on Tuesday
that the missing material has been found and has been disposed of properly.
Dalzell said the equipment was shipped via Fed-Ex, which temporarily misplaced the item. It was later found and delivered to the manufacturer.
Dalzell explained that the material was depleted ahead of its transport to the disposal facility. While there were still trace amounts of radiation, it was so low that they only needed to wrap in a few layers of Styrofoam to render it safe for transport.
In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said the device has a "very low-level radiation source that is approved for shipping through common carriers like FedEx" and "has been located, repackaged, and sent to the manufacturer from the FedEx shipping facility where it was misplaced."
Additionally, the NJDEP said
drones were not used to locate the radioactive material in question.