The following information was provided by the licensee by fax.
On 17 March 2005, the TACOM-RI
RSO received a call from the Ft. Sill
RSO informing the licensee that he discovered 3 ea broken M1A1 collimators (nsn 1240-00-332-1780 sealed source registration no. NR-155-S-102-S). Each M1A1 collimator contains a 10 curie sealed source lamp. One collimator (s/n 933) was discovered in a training area. After this collimator was discovered, the Ft Sill
RSO immediately proceeded to inspect all M1A1 collimators found in the 3/30th Field Artillery, sections 2nd, 3rd, and 6th. As a result of this inspection, the
RSO discovered two additional broken M1A1 collimators, (s/n's 8644, 4116). The
RSO immediately took survey wipes of the collimators and areas where they were located. There was no physical damage on the exterior of the devices or cases containing the devices. Physical damage was observed of the
tritium sealed source cell itself, however exterior lenses were intact on all three collimators. It could not be determined how the damage occurred. Leak tests were performed on the three collimators with the following results s/n 933 (837,000 dpm or 3.7E-4 millicuries), s/n 8644 (6,950 dpms or 3.1E-7 millicuries), and s/n 4116 (26,300 dpms or 1.2E-5 millicuries). Only Collimator s/n 933 exceeded reportable limits [110,000 DPM]. The
RSO secured the purging and training areas upon discovery of the broken devices and conducted area survey in the purging area, conex trailers (where collimators are stored) and training area. None of the areas surveyed had removable
tritium contamination in excess of 5,000 dpms.
Tritium bioassay samples were taken on individuals (approx 10) who may have actually handled the broken M1A1 collimators. Bioassay samples will be analyzed at the US Army lab, CHPPM Aberdeen,
MD. At the time of this report, the bioassay results were not available, The Ft Sill
RSO has secured the three collimators in a low-level rad waste storage site for future disposal.