ENS 42158
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
15:00 Nov 20, 2005 | |
| Title | |
| Event Description | A Troxler Model 3420 moisture density gauge (nominally 40 milliCi Am-241/Be and 8 milliCi Cs-137) was stolen from the back of an employee technician's pickup truck while parked in a parking garage in Minnetonka, MN. The gauge was in its case inside a gang box. The gang box was double-locked and secured to the truck by cables or chains attached to the gang box handles which were found cut.
The licensee's license number, the gauge serial number, and the address of the parking garage were not available at the time of the report. The licensee stated that the theft has been reported to the local police department. There are no current plans for either a reward or a press release.
Minnesota became an Agreement State after the original report was made. The State provided the following information via facsimile: On November 20, 2005 the Troxler gauge, serial number 29535 was taken from a locked pickup truck. The locked transport case had been attached to the pickup truck bed by two chains. The pickup truck was in a secured garage of an apartment building in Minnetonka. The police report states that the garage had been ransacked and this was not the only item taken. The stolen gauge was noticed by the owner of an automotive repair business approximated 9 months later in the back area of the business. He thought that someone would come and claim it. At a point approximately 3 months later, when no one had picked it up, the business owner asked a friend of his who was having his vehicle worked on and was a member of the Metropolitan Transit Company if he knew what it was. At this point, the Minnetonka police were called, discovered the owner and returned it to senior project manager at STS Consultants, Ltd. The supervisor of the Radiation Control unit for the Minnesota Department of Health, Environmental Health Division was notified on the recovery of the gauge by NRC Region 3. He requested that a follow-up inspection be conducted. On November 6, 2006, the inspectors went to STS Consultants, Ltd. to survey a recovered Troxler gauge, serial number 29535, that had been stolen one year ago. Upon arrival they met with the senior project manager. The senior project manager showed the inspectors the gauge that was already out of the transport case. He was getting ready to do the leak testing. Meter readings were taken using a Ludlum 2241-3 meter, serial number 220224. Wipes were read with a Radiation Alert Inspector serial number 5588 on 11/7/06. The project manager did perform the leak test while the inspectors were there. The gauge will be sent in for repair and calibration. The gauge will be sent to a company in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. When the senior project manager received the gauge back from the Minnetonka police department, he found: The transport case locks were broken; The serial number of the gauge had been ground off; and The trigger mechanism on the handle did not function properly. He did discover the Am-Be source holder was still intact. With the trigger mechanism not working, he was not sure if the Cs 137 source was still intact. As a result of the meter readings and wipe results, the conclusion by the inspectors was that there was no contamination or leakage from the two sources contained within the gauge. There was no indication of any further follow-up needed. Notified NMSS EO (G. Morell), R3DO (J. Cameron), emailed to ILTAB and faxed to Canada (CNSC). THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A "LESS THAN CAT 3" LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL Sources that are "Less than IAEA Category 3 sources," are either sources that are very unlikely to cause permanent injury to individuals or contain a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause any permanent injury. Some of these sources, such as moisture density gauges or thickness gauges that are Category 4, the amount of unshielded radioactive material, if not safely managed or securely protected, could possibly - although it is unlikely - temporarily injure someone who handled it or were otherwise in contact with it, or who were close to it for a period of many weeks. |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Sts Consultants Ltd Maple Grove, Minnesota (NRC Region 3) | |
| Organization: | Sts Consultants Ltd |
| Reporting | |
| 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(ii) | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+-4.58 h-0.191 days <br />-0.0273 weeks <br />-0.00627 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Scott Mottlow 10:25 Nov 20, 2005 |
| NRC Officer: | Mike Ripley |
| Last Updated: | Nov 8, 2006 |
| 42158 - NRC Website | |
Sts Consultants Ltd with 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(ii) | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 421582005-11-20T15:00:00020 November 2005 15:00:00
[Table view]10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(ii) Stolen Troxler Moisture Density Gauge 2005-11-20T15:00:00 | |