The State provided the following information via email:
Two XRF Analyzers possessed under a general license by Engineering Remediation Resources Group (ERRG) were stolen from the cab of a truck parked overnight in San Francisco, California at Grove and Masonic. The serial numbers of the stolen Analyzers are 7497 and 7706. These devices contain 40 mCi of Cadmium-109 each. The police and the company from which the Analyzers were rented, Thermo-Niton in Boston, MA, have been notified. The cases for the Analyzers were found broken open about a block away from the location of the parked truck. All the equipment for the Analyzers was missing as well. The employees of ERRG, a soil gauge licensee (RML# 6739-07), have been retrained on maintaining the security of radioactive material in their possession. ERRG has agreed to offer a reward for the return of the Analyzers in a local newspaper. A 30 day reporting requirement was chosen because of the low exposure rate of Cadmium-109 and the unlikely possibility of opening the devices to get at the radioactive material. The energy of the X-Rays from Cadmium-109 are 22.1 Kev, 24.9 Kev and 88.0 Kev.
CA State Report No.: 090407
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