ENS Event | |
|---|---|
05:00 Jul 1, 2006 | |
| Title | Agreement State - Missing Americium-241 Source |
| Event Description | The following information was provided by the State of Maryland via facsimile:
Diageo is a State of Maryland general licensee for a 100 millicurie Am-241 radioactive material gauge used to measure the fill height of beverages bottled at the facility. Diageo provided a report in writing to the State on 1/8/07 that the source was missing. The source and its source holder were discovered missing from an Industrial Dynamics Company (IDC) Model FT-50 device by the company around June 2006. Diageo and IDC conducted an extensive search of the facility and did not locate the source. The State conducted an investigation of the incident on 2/16/07 and no root cause of the loss/theft could be identified. Visual search and surveys were conducted in facility inventory areas. Interviews with IDC confirmed that only IDC or other qualified specific licensees are allowed to remove the source holder from the unit. IDC states that they did not remove the source from the device. Diageo states that their personnel did not remove the source. Potential waste stream routes from the facility are being investigated. Diageo states that they cannot identify any mechanism whereby the source could have gotten into the company waste stream. Diageo failed to report the incident to local law enforcement. During the State investigation the following issues were identified: "failure to maintain inventory records; failure to conduct leak tests; failure to perform operational test at required frequencies; and non-operational source indicators lights. Maryland has reported the case to local FBI. The State has notified Region 1 (White and Janda) about this event. The State Report number is MD070004 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 | |
|---|---|
| Diageo Baltimore, Maryland (NRC Region 1) | |
| License number: | GENERAL |
| Organization: | Maryland Dept Of The Environment |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+5930 h247.083 days <br />35.298 weeks <br />8.123 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Ray Manley 08:00 Mar 5, 2007 |
| NRC Officer: | Bill Huffman |
| Last Updated: | Mar 5, 2007 |
| 43211 - NRC Website | |
Diageo with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 432112006-07-01T05:00:0001 July 2006 05:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State - Missing Americium-241 Source 2006-07-01T05:00:00 | |