On the afternoon of March 5, 2007 at approximately 2:00 pm, the Radiation Safety Officer for Quality Assurance Testing Laboratories, Inc. of Montgomery,
Alabama notified the State that a
CPN model MC-3
moisture density gauge was
stolen from its storage location in Montgomery,
Alabama. Quality Assurance Testing Laboratories, Inc. is authorized to possess and use radioactive material under their
Alabama Radioactive Material License No. 819. The
gauge was last seen Thursday, March 1, 2007 when it was placed in storage. The
gauge was discovered missing at 10:00 am on the morning of March 5, 2007. The Montgomery Police Department was notified and responded. The
stolen gauge was identified as a
CPN model MC-3, serial number M300705778, with 10 millicuries of
Cs-137 and 50 millicuries of Am-241-Be. The
RSO indicated that the
gauge was stored in a locked shed that had no windows. The door is equipped with a regular door lock and a deadbolt. There was no sign of forced entry and only the one
gauge was
stolen. Other
gauges containing radioactive material were in the building but not affected. The
RSO indicated that the transport case was not locked and the source shutter was not locked. According to the
RSO, no other equipment was
stolen. The licensee is canvassing the pawn shops within the city providing them pictures for their information.
Alabama Event 07-14.
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.