The licensee Radiation Safety Officer reported that a company pick-up truck, that had a
moisture density gauge stored in the bed, was
stolen from in front of the apartment complex of the Authorized User. The apartment was located in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, which is remotely located from the licensee home office located in Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico.
The gauge is a CPN Model MC-1DRP, S/N 60703285, which contains 10 mCi of Cs-137 and 50 mCi of Am: Be. The gauge was last leak checked on October 15, 2007. The gauge was secured to the truck in a metal case mounted to the chassis of the truck and secured with the gauge lock, the gauge case lock and two locks on the metal storage case.
The stolen truck was a white 1996 Ford Ranger pick-up with Puerto Rican tag number 557-167.
The licensee notified the Puerto Rico State Police of the theft of the truck and gauge.
- * * UPDATE FROM JOSE IRIZARRY TO HOWIE CROUCH ON 04/05/08 @ 0809 HRS EDT * * *
Mr. Jose Irizarry, RSO for Ponze, reported that at 0430 EDT he was notified by Puerto Rico State Police that they had recovered the moisture density gauge in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The gauge was still locked in its storage container and was returned to the Authorized User.
Notified R1DO (Hansell), FSME (White) and ILTAB (via e-mail).
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.