ENS 43507
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
19:32 Jul 19, 2007 | |
| Title | Agreement State Report from the State of Texas |
| Event Description | EVENT: Radioactive Material (RAM) found - sealed
License Number: "Unlicensed The agency received a call at 2:15 p.m. today (7/19/07) from DSHS Food & Drug Inspector, (DELETED) inquiring about four radiation devices found with 1994 inspection stickers on each of them. She said there appears to be some concern as of what company owns them and the facility they are located at. She gave me three names of possible companies, or owners: I Q Distributors Diversified Materials Services Diversified Medical Services Inc. The facility is located at: 2400 Central Parkway, Suite LP in Houston, Texas 77092. She is currently on location. Agency Action Taken: Region 6 RAM Inspector to go to the facility as soon as possible to conduct incident investigation & identify sources. Texas Incident Number: I-8428
The NRC received the following information from the Agreement State of Texas via facsimile: On 08/23/07, the Agency received a telephone call from the individual who received the gauges from Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (KBR) & was given the following information: The individual stated that on 03/03/06, he purchased a portion of the building at 2400 Central Parkway, Ste. L, Houston, Texas. The purchaser reported to the Agency that he was not aware that the portion of the building he just bought, Suite L, contained the alloy analyzers found by DSHS inspectors until he was recently contacted by the agency. He stated he thought he bought lab equipment only & was unaware that the building purchase included the alloy analyzers. The other suite, Suite P, is not owned by him & overseen by the initial individual contacted at the site by the agency's inspectors. He is not sure why this individual did not make the suite distinction with the inspectors nor contact him to let him know the building was being inspected. He contacted the agency's general licensing acknowledgement (GLA) division & was given the following information: These devices with Fe-55 and Cd-109 sources and no longer issued a GLA so anyone can possess these devices if transferred by manufacturer/distributor. A transfer is allowed if the devices are transferred in their physical location, which occurred when he bought the building. Additionally, the agency received documentation from the manufacturer that they removed the RAM sources from the two empty analyzers & shipped the analyzers back to KBR in 1997. The two analyzers which had very low-strength RAM sources were transferred in accordance with the above stated allowance. The purchaser asked if the agency could give him information on how he could dispose of the analyzers. The agency responded by forwarding information to the purchaser for possible contacts who could assist him with disposal. BASED ON THE ABOVE INFORMATION, THE AGENCY IS REQUESTING A RETRACTION OF THIS INCIDENT, SINCE IT IS NOW DEEMED NON-REPORTABLE. Notified R4DO (T. Pruett) and FSME (J. Davis). 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 |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| I Q Distributors/Diversified Materials Services/Diversified Houston, Texas (NRC Region 4) | |
| Organization: | Texas Department Of Health |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+-2.4 h-0.1 days <br />-0.0143 weeks <br />-0.00329 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Latischa Hanson 17:08 Jul 19, 2007 |
| NRC Officer: | John Mackinnon |
| Last Updated: | Sep 4, 2007 |
| 43507 - NRC Website | |
I Q Distributors/Diversified Materials Services/Diversified with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 435072007-07-19T19:32:00019 July 2007 19:32:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State Report from the State of Texas 2007-07-19T19:32:00 | |