The State provided the following information via facsimile:
Licensee received routine shipment of Am-241 button sources from supplier in China - Shenzhen CIC in Shenzhen, China on August 15, 2007. Shipment was sent via China Air from China to New York, and then transported by air to Boston. In Boston, it is then trucked via Ground Control and arrived at the licensees facility in Burlington, MA. The licensee estimates the package was sent from China sometime after July 25, 2007.
The excepted package (UN2911) was damaged when it arrived at the licensees' facility. At this time the licensee confirmed there was no contamination nor high radiation levels from the package. This package is normally not opened as it is forwarded to a customer for use in smoke detectors. On August 31, 2007, before forwarding the package, the licensee opened the package to verify its contents. The licensee discovered that 2 vials from the package were missing.
Each plastic vial contains 500 Am-241 button sources, each 0.8 microCi nominal activity, for a total of 0.4 milliCi total in each vial.
The licensee immediately notified their transport broker and their agent in China.
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