On September 9, 2008, the Agency was notified by the Radiation Safety Officer (
RSO) that while conducting source leak surveys on installed generally licensed devices, a device containing 100 millicuries of
Americium (Am) - 241 could not be located. The device was installed on a component that had been removed from the product line and placed in an area of the facility frequented by vagrants. The area where the device had been stored had been vandalized and much of the steel and
copper from various components had been removed. The
RSO stated that all other sources listed on their license were installed on components still in operation and were verified intact. The facility has increased its security and their security team is searching for the source. Additional information will follow as it is obtained.
Texas Incident #: I 8554
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.