On Monday 8/20/07, a package containing a small quantity of natural
uranium, was inadvertently discarded and taken to the Bridgeton Landfill. The material was shipped as an Excepted Package - Limited Quantity from General Engineering Laboratory which is located in
South Carolina to TestAmerica. The package was received, opened and set aside. On Monday, workers inadvertently disposed of the package as trash. The total activity of the material was .265 microcuries (natural
uranium with a specific activity of 34 picocuries/gm). The licensee does not believe that a search of the landfill would locate the material due to the shredding and mulching process and the extremely small quantity involved. An accident investigation is in progress which will identify appropriate corrective actions.
The licensee will notify the State of Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
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