ENS 43100
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
03:00 Jan 13, 2007 | |
| Title | Agreement State Report - Stolen Moisture Density Gauge |
| Event Description | The State provided the following information via email:
On January 15, 2007, about 10:00 am, the [California] DHS Duty Officer received a call regarding a stolen Troxler, Model 3430 Moisture/Density Gauge (SN 35954), containing a nominal 8 millicuries Cs-137 and 40 millicuries Am-241. The gauge user went to his home, after work on Friday, January 12, 2007, to have dinner, before returning the gauge to the authorized storage location. The gauge was chained in an open-bed pick-up truck. When the user returned to the truck, between 7:00 - 7:30 pm that evening, the chains had been cut, and the gauge was gone. The user did not report this to the licensee's home office until approximately 9:30 am, Monday, January 15, 2007, at which time, the licensee phoned the police, and notified [CA] DHS. RHB will follow-up with the licensee on this issue. State report number: 011507
Recovered gauge was previously reported stolen on January 15, 2007 from Krazan & Associates (NMED #070031 RH5010 #011507) At 0830 on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, the Department received a call from the local metal recycler stating the radiation alarm was set off when an individual brought a truck load of metal to recycle. The item that set off the alarm was a nuclear soil density gauge. The individual stated he had found the gauge in the street at the corner of Highland Avenue and Valencia Avenue in San Bernardino, CA. Information was taken from the driver and the gauge was surveyed and secured in SA Recycling's hazardous waste trailer until the Department could arrive. At 0945, the Department arrived on site to survey the gauge and take identifying information from the gauge. The outer plastic housing of the gauge had been broken off, but the metal casing and handle appeared intact. The source rod was retracted and the Cesium 137 source was in the safe shielded position and the Americium 241:Be source metal housing and shielding was also intact. The surface of the gauge was wiped and there was no external contamination found. Using a Victoreen, CHP 450 #414, the highest reading found was at the surface of the Americium 241:Be source housing - 18 milliRoentgen per hour (mR/hr) at the surface; 0.68 mR/hr at 1 foot; 0.1 mR/hr at 3 feet; with a background of 0.02 mR/hr. This gauge was a Troxler, model 3430, #35954 with a 40 milliCurie (mCi) Americium 241:Be source #78931 assayed on 8-16-04 and a 8 mCi Cesium 137 source #77-3063 assayed on 10-15-04. We then contacted the manufacturer who identified the gauge as belonging to Krazan & Associates, Ontario, CA. This gauge had been reported stolen on January 15, 2007 (RH5010 #011507, NMED# 070031). The gauge was returned to the Krazan& Associates in Ontario who will send the gauge to the manufacturer for evaluation and repair or disposal as necessary. The Anaheim Police were also notified of the recovery of the gauge. Notified R4DO (Jones), FSME EO (Chang), ILTAB (via email) and Mexico (via email). 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 | |
|---|---|
| Krazan And Associates Ontario, California (NRC Region 4) | |
| License number: | 6809-36 |
| Organization: | California Radiation Control Prgm |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+59.3 h2.471 days <br />0.353 weeks <br />0.0812 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Barbara Hamrick 14:18 Jan 15, 2007 |
| NRC Officer: | Bill Gott |
| Last Updated: | May 21, 2009 |
| 43100 - NRC Website | |
Krazan And Associates with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 431002007-01-13T03:00:00013 January 2007 03:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State Report - Stolen Moisture Density Gauge 2007-01-13T03:00:00 | |