NANO Nuclear subsidiary STS completes cesium-137 removal from Brazilian medical facility in NNSA-led security operation
On September 2, 2026, a team led by Secured Transportation Services (STS) — a subsidiary of NANO Nuclear Energy — removed a cesium-137 radioactive source from HEMOAM, a blood bank and hematology foundation in Manaus, Brazil. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Y-12 National Security Complex managed the operation under the National Nuclear Security Administration. The goal: extract a high-activity source from a working medical facility and move it to secure storage.
The mission wrapped up deep in one of Brazil’s most geographically remote regions. And it wasn’t the first time.
STS removes cesium-137 source from Manaus blood bank
NANO Nuclear Energy announced STS’s role on October 29, 2026 — nearly two months after the operation ended. The mission centered on HEMOAM, the Fundação Hospitalar de Hematologia e Hemoterapia do Amazonas, a blood bank and hematology foundation serving patients in Manaus. The specific target was a Cs-137 source housed inside a Gammacell 3000 blood irradiator, a device the facility had relied on for years to irradiate blood products before transfusion.
That’s the broader logic behind NNSA-ORS operations: cut radiological vulnerability without disrupting the medical services communities depend on.
STS served as lead subcontractor for the entire operation — owning the planning, the logistics, and the physical removal of the source. That meant coordinating simultaneously with Y-12 personnel, Brazilian radiological experts, regulatory authorities, and transportation providers. The NNSA’s Office of Radiological Security oversaw the broader mission framework.
Why the source was removed: Security risk and medical transition
High-activity sources like cesium-137 create a persistent security problem. Lost, stolen, or misused, they could be weaponized or cause serious public harm. Reducing that risk is a core part of NNSA’s Office of Radiological Security international mission — and one of its primary tools is helping facilities move away from radioactive sources when a viable alternative exists.
For HEMOAM, that alternative came through NNSA’s Alternative Technologies initiative, which funded the facility’s transition to an X-ray blood irradiation system. It performs the same clinical function — preventing transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease — without keeping a radioactive source on-site. HEMOAM didn’t have to give up its blood irradiation capabilities to eliminate the security risk. It just upgraded its technology.
That’s the broader logic behind NNSA-ORS operations: cut radiological vulnerability without disrupting the medical services communities depend on.
Logistics of transporting radioactive material through a remote region
Getting the source out of Manaus wasn’t simple. The city sits deep in the Amazon basin, surrounded by dense jungle and river systems, with no practical overland route connecting it to the rest of Brazil’s road network. That geographic reality made the logistics considerably more complex than a typical removal mission.
The team’s solution was a multi-modal approach. The Cs-137 source first traveled by aircraft out of the Manaus region; once the flight reached an area with an established road network, the source transferred to ground transportation for the final leg to a secure storage facility. At every stage, it traveled inside a certified Type B(U) shipping container — the internationally recognized standard for transporting high-activity radioactive material. Brazil’s national nuclear safety authority, the Autoridade Nacional de Segurança Nuclear (ANSN), provided regulatory oversight throughout.
STS and Y-12 personnel maintained what the industry calls “positive control” and “continuity of custody” at all times. Plain translation: the source was never unaccounted for, and responsibility never left the authorized team.
Eighth removal in Brazil since 2023, part of a wider U.S. radiological security effort
The Manaus operation didn’t happen in isolation. It was the eighth radioactive-source removal completed in Brazil through this series of NNSA-ORS activities since 2023. Y-12 has managed all eight; STS has supported preplanning, specialized field execution, and transportation across the missions, coordinating with Brazilian experts and authorities each time.
That track record points to something bigger than a single program. The U.S. government has framed international radiological security as a national security priority — and with good reason, since reducing the number of vulnerable high-activity sources in circulation globally lowers the risk that any one of them ends up in the wrong hands. STS brings more than two decades of experience to this kind of work, where safety, security, regulatory compliance, and operational execution all have to function simultaneously.
What the Manaus operation adds up to
The HEMOAM mission pulled together several threads at once: a U.S. national security objective, a Brazilian medical facility’s need to modernize, and the logistical challenge of operating in one of South America’s most remote regions. STS’s role as lead subcontractor put it at the center of all three.
A vulnerable cesium-137 source was removed from active use, replaced with a safer alternative technology, and transported to secure storage — all without disrupting the blood irradiation services HEMOAM’s patients rely on. As the eighth in a series of Brazilian removals since 2023, the operation also signals that the NNSA-ORS program in the country is sustained and systematic, not episodic. For STS and NANO Nuclear Energy, it adds another data point to a growing portfolio of international radiological security work.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
