Radioactive material leaked from a medical shipment on Friday at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the government and airport officials said, adding that the incident had been contained and there was no risk to passengers.
The leak was found at the airport’s cargo-handling complex in a consignment of sodium iodide 131 – a radioactive liquid used in so-called nuclear medicine – that had been on board an inbound Turkish Airlines passenger flight.”This area is far away from any of the passenger terminals and there is absolutely no risk of exposure to any passengers,” Delhi International Airport Ltd, the airport’s operator, said in a statement.”The said area has been cordoned off and as per the preliminary assessment … the material has been termed as that of low radio activity.”Sodium iodide 131 is used to treat hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancers. It emits radiation and must be handled with care to minimise inadvertent exposure to health workers and patients.