Four canisters of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) en route to a Westinghouse fuel fabrication facility in South Carolina were dropped as they were being lifted on to a container ship in the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia on the evening of Thursday 13 March.
The bottom fell out of the shipping container as it was being transported, and the four canisters fell into the ship Atlantic Companion, according to the Canadian nuclear regulator.
No injuries were reported, and although radiation levels were above background, they were extremely low.
CNSC inspectors later confirmed that none of the four containers had been breached. They were offloaded from the ship on Saturday and will be stored at the terminal temporarily until they can be repackaged, CNSC said.
The terminal has since returned to normal business.
