An
Am-241 sealed source (Serial #: NM-129 received in January 1978) was last inventoried in February 2005.
On the afternoon of March 30, 2005, it was concluded that a wand marker containing 2 mCi of Am-241 was missing. The marker had not been in use and was secured "in storage" in the Nuclear Medicine Hot Lab at the Miriam Hospital. Initially the source was considered to be misplaced. However, on March 30, 2005, the hospital's preliminary investigations had not recovered the source and it was reported as lost. The source is identified as an Am-241 (2mCi) wand formerly used as a marker for an ELCINT camera. The source is in a steel wand and is shielded until a window is opened when used as a marker. It was described as a steel rod with wires out the back end approximately 8 inches long and approximately 0.75 inches in diameter.
The Rhode Island RCA was notified of the incident on March 30, 2005 via a voice message and retrieved by RCA personnel on April 1, 2005 after returning from training out of state. The licensee is continuing a search of each campus in an attempt to retrieve or account for the source.
Event Report ID: RI-05-002
- * * UPDATE 1358 EDT ON 4/8/05 FROM JACK FERRUOLO TO PETE SNYDER VIA FAX * * *
Investigation conducted on 1 April 05 at RI Hospital Campus of licensee with follow-up at Miriam Campus on 5 April 2006. Findings: Inventory records supported inventory and accountability of source on 11/29/04. Inventory record for 2/16/05 identified the Am-241 source as missing. Notification of RI RCA was not effected until 30 March 05. The source is as described above with the following clarifications: It has a wooden handle at one end-total length of wand increased to approx. 12 inches. A radiation symbol was embossed on the metal portion of the wand, however, the wand was typically placed in a scabbard thus concealing the radiation warning. The Hot tab was confirmed to be locked - key code locking mechanism. The source was stored in a separate waste storage location accessible only from the Hot Lab. All areas in the storage location were checked and the source was not recovered, it is presumed lost and not retrievable. Licensee has scheduled in service with all Nuclear medicine and physics staff to review protocols and to investigate further.
Notified R1DO (Noggle) and
NMSS (Leach)