The
RSO called [1625
CDT on 4/13/07] to report that during their quarterly inventory check, the facility discovered that (3)
tritium exit signs were lost: Mfg: BetaLux Model 171-20-R-U-WH-D-RD, Serial Numbers: 255-381; 255-319; 255-399, Activity Source: 20 Ci each.
Root Cause: The RSO [and] Incident Review board believe the exits signs were inadvertently knocked down [and] thrown away, so that the person responsible would not be found out [and] held accountable. TI runs a 24 hour-7day operation, so the RSO explains it is very difficult to find the culprit(s).
Committee corrective action: Current [and] replacement signs will be attached with a secondary tether so that if the signs are knocked down, they will not fall down, but dangle until refastening is performed.
Texas Incident Number: I-8403.
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.