The State provided the following information regarding a previously unreported event via facsimile:
A fire, which started in garage/storage facility, at a golf course construction site near the summit of a former city landfill was allowed to burn for two days by the local fire department. However, during the fire and immediately after the proximity of the device storage shed was disclosed by the licensee to the local authorities, the City of Quincy Fire Department summoned the Agency [MA Radiation Control Program] to the scene. At the scene the Agency representative was able to overview the situation, to take measurements and to advise the fire officials that the radiological device in the nearby stage shed was neither an immediate or imminent health or safety hazard. On the third day, the Agency representative [and] the licensee Radiation Safety Officer (
RSO) were allowed by the Fire Chief to enter the separate device shed with instrumentation and to retrieve the device. The device was located with appropriate instrumentation, separated from the rubble and stored securely elsewhere on-site. Surveys were subsequently conducted to release the remains of the storage shed. The manufacturer of the device was engaged by the licensee to come to the job site to confirm recovery of both
Cesium-137 and Am-241:Be sealed sources; to conduct appropriate leak testing and leak test analyses; and to package, mark and label the 55 gallon drum for shipment to the manufacturer's headquarters. Leak test results disclosed no apparent leakage of material from either sealed source. These sources were packaged on August 22, 2002, and the shipment was secured on-site in a vault pending completion of attendant paperwork, obtaining the certificate of compliance for the shipping container, and arranging for the transportation pickup of the hauler. Event closed by state.