The following information was provided via facsimile:
The SC Department of Health and Environmental Control was notified on Thursday, March 1, 2007, at 1015 hrs, that a Humboldt Model EZ 5001, s/n 4751, containing 11 mCi of Cs-137 and 44 mCi of Am-241:Be, had been stolen from the rear of a company truck, located at Extended Stay America, Spartanburg, SC. [The State of SC] contacted [the] RSO, at 1030 hrs and was advised that [the] authorized user, had reported at 0800 hrs that the gauge had been stolen from the vehicle. [The RSO] stated that the tailgate was locked to prevent access to the steel lock box that the gauge storage container was secured in and the lockbox is bolted to the truck bed. The tailgate had been damaged to gain access to the lockbox and a blowtorch had been used to cut the lock of the steel box. [The RSO] stated that local law enforcement had been notified and a police report had been completed. [The RSO] stated that he would e-mail an incident report, police report, and images of the security measures used to secure gauges in company vehicles within the next two business days.
[The RSO] was advised by the State of SC to submit a written report detailing this event to the Department within 30 days. [The RSO] was advised that if the gauge was recovered, to contact the Department immediately. The event is open and pending the licensee's investigation and report to the Department, updates will be made through the national NMED system.
The licensee is located in Marietta, GA and has a reciprocity license in SC.
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.
This source is not amongst those sources or devices identified by the
IAEA Code of Conduct for the Safety & Security of Radioactive Sources to be of concern from a radiological standpoint. Therefore is it being categorized as a less than Category 3 source