ENS 44427
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
15:00 Aug 17, 2008 | |
| Title | Texas Agreement State Report - Surface Contamination at Lufthansa Cargo Facility |
| Event Description | The following information was provided by the State of Texas via email:
On 8/18/08 at 0655 CDT, [State of Texas] received a call from the answering service at approximately 10 PM on 8/17/08 requesting that [the State] call Lufthansa Cargo at DFW Airport. [State] contacted [Deleted] and he [reported] that customs had been at their facility and had found a spot on their concrete floor reading 132 microrem. The area [approximately 16' x 20' ] had been used to store a container from Protechnics out of Houston, Texas. The package had originated from Spectro Services in Albuquerque, NM. The package had been sent on to Germany on 8/14/08. The radionuclide was identified as Iridium (Ir) - 192 by the Dallas Fort Worth Fire Department. The area is currently roped off and posted no entry. A decontamination service [was scheduled] to decontaminate the area Monday 8/18/08 in the afternoon. [Deleted] agreed to contact us when the area was decontaminated. Copies of the surveys conducted were also requested. An Agency inspector performed a survey of the area and identified the contamination as Ir - 192. On 8/19/08 at 1410 CDT, NNSI was been contracted to decontaminate the area. The contractor states that the area should be released by this evening. Contamination appears to be in the form of dust. Several packages were in the contaminated area and were decontaminated prior to releasing for shipment. The contamination is readily removable. NNSI stated that they were going to survey the transportation area in Houston. The shipper stated that they had surveyed the location in Houston (Transaction Packaging 2928 B Greens Rd Suite 250) where the package was stored waiting to be sent to Dallas/Fort Worth and found no direct readings above background. NNSI has not provided the Agency with any of their readings. The original survey conducted by the state inspector found removable contamination levels of 4000 cpm/smear on 8/18/08 in the area in question. Shoes of all workers who could have traveled thru the area were surveyed and found to be free of contamination. The package originated in Albuquerque NM and was flown from there thru Memphis, TN To Houston, TX and then trucked to Dallas Fort Worth airport. The material first considered as the source was Ir - 192 tracer material. Surveys of the package when it arrived in Germany indicated that there was no contamination outside of the package. An engineer is waiting for the package in India. He will survey the package, then open the package to verify that there has been no damage. The engineer will take pictures of the boxes and forward to the Agency. There was a statement from NNSI that they had heard that there may have been a problem with the package in Houston and that it may have been over packed. Protechniques stated that this was not true. An Agency inspector will survey the transport trailer used to move the material to DFW on 8/20/08. The material first thought to create the problem was packaged in 20 mil vials, placed inside a lead shield, which was placed inside a plastic bag and placed in a DOT shipping container. The Agency has requested the records on all RAM passing thru this facility in the last 90 days from Lufthansa Cargo. Texas Incident number: I-8536
At 0915, NNSI reported that the area at Lufthansa Cargo was released for unrestricted use at 9 PM on 8/19/08. They also reported that they conducted surveys at Lufthansa's warehouse in Houston, Texas and found no uncontrolled radioactive material. Notified R4DO (V. Gaddy) and FSME (M. Burgess) and e-mailed OIP (S. Dembek). |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Not Applicable Dallas, Texas (NRC Region 4) | |
| Organization: | Texas Department Of Health |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+65.95 h2.748 days <br />0.393 weeks <br />0.0903 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Art Tucker 08:57 Aug 20, 2008 |
| NRC Officer: | Jeff Rotton |
| Last Updated: | Aug 20, 2008 |
| 44427 - NRC Website | |
Not Applicable with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 534152018-05-21T04:00:00021 May 2018 04:00:00
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