Handling and deploying radioactive sources

An apparatus for handling a radioactive source, comprising

• a rod having the radioactive source mounted at one end of the rod;
• a coupler disposed at the other end of the rod;
• and
• a shaft having a clip at one end of the shaft defining a chamber for receiving said coupler;
• wherein the rod and the shaft are flexible and semirigid so that both the rod and shaft will flex when the rod and the shaft are inserted through a curved passageway leading to a given location in a shielded enclosure and thereby enable the radioactive source to be deployed through the curved passageway to and from the given location in the shielded enclosure.

An apparatus for handling a radioactive source, comprising

• a rod having the radioactive source mounted at one end of the rod;
• a coupler disposed at the other end of the rod;
• and
• a shaft having a clip at one end of the shaft defining a chamber for receiving said coupler;
• wherein the coupler includes a ball-shaped member having a larger diameter than the rod and the ball-shaped member is connected to the rod by a neck;
• and
• wherein the clip is made of flexible material and further defines and axial channel having a diameter smaller than the ball-shaped member and approximately the same size as the neck and extending from an open end to the chamber for receiving the neck, with the channel being open to one side through a radial slot which is smaller than the neck for permitting the neck to be forced through said radial slot and into said channel, such that when the ball-shaped member is received in the chamber the ball-shaped member will not freely slide out of the chamber.

A method of simultaneously handling a plurality of radioactive sources for deployment of the radioactive sources from a shielded enclosure, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a plurality of radioactive sources respectively mounted at one end of a plurality of rods, wherein a coupler is disposed at the other end of each rod;
• b) handling the other ends of the rods outside of the shielded enclosure while the mounted radioactive sources are within the shielded enclosure to respectively insert the mounted radioactive sources in a plurality of compartments that are defined by a canister connected by a shaft to a clip defining a plurality of chambers for respectively receiving a plurality of said couplers, such that the mounted radioactive sources are restrained to remain in the compartments when the couplers are received in said chambers;
• and
• c) inserting the couplers into said chambers to prevent removal of the mounted radioactive sources from the compartments.

A method of handling a radioactive source for deployment of the radioactive source from a first shielded enclosure to a given location in a second shielded enclosure, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing within the first shielded enclosure a radioactive source mounted at one end of a rod, wherein a coupler is disposed at the other end of the rod;
• b) handling the other end of the rod outside of the first shielded enclosure while the mounted radioactive source is within the first shielded enclosure to insert the coupler into a chamber defined by a clip mounted at one end of a shaft;
• and
• c) handling the shaft to deploy the radioactive source to a given location in a second shielded enclosure through a curved passageway in the second shielded enclosure;
• wherein the rod and the shaft are flexible and semirigid so that both the rod and shaft will flex when the rod and the shaft are inserted through the curved passageway leading to the given location in the second shielded enclosure and thereby enable the radioactive source to be deployed through the curved passageway to the given location in the shielded enclosure.