The State provided the following information via email:
A Texas licensee reported on January 25, 2006 that an industrial radiograph crew departed Corpus Christi for Victoria, Texas, and found on arrival that the radiography device they were carrying was not on the transport vehicle. The radiation source, a 21 Curie industrial radiography source, was lost in its shielded container. Company crews are searching for the device and have not located it at this time. DSHS radiation control staff have been dispatched to aid in the search. Local law enforcement are being notified of the loss."
The radionuclide is Ir-192. Texas Incident Report No. I-8292
- * * UPDATE FROM ROBERT FREE TO JOE O'HARA AT 1407 ON 1/30/06 * * *
Radiography device found by private citizen on 1/25/06 and returned 01/26/06.
Notified the R4DO(Runyon), NMSS EO(Morell), IRD Manager(Wilson), TAS(Perez), and Mexico.
THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A "CATEGORY 3" LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL
Category 3 sources, if not safely managed or securely protected, could cause permanent injury to a person who handled them, or were otherwise in contact with them, for some hours, it could possibly - although it is unlikely - be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period of days to weeks. These sources are typically used in practices such as fixed industrial gauges involving high activity sources (for example, level gauges, dredger gauges, conveyor gauges and spinning pipe gauges) and well logging.
Although IAEA categorization of this event is typically based on device type, the staff has been made aware of the actual activity of the source, and after calculation determines that it is a Category 3 event.
Note: the value assigned by device type "Category 2" is different than the calculated value "Category 3