March 1, 1998

On February 27, 1998, in the course of carrying out a characterization and monitoring Project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a contractor and their subtier contractors reporting to Lockheed Martin Energy Systems incorrectly shipped radioactive samples to three analytical laboratories. Shipments to all three laboratories involved the use of public roads. Shipments to one of the laboratories also involved an air carrier. All of the laboratories notified the Lockheed Martin Sample Management Office that the samples had not met U.S. Department of Transportation requirements. These notifications prompted several response actions including this Type B investigation.