The following information was received from the State via facsimile:
The Virginia Radioactive Materials Program received a telephone message on Monday, August 17, 2009 (message was left at 6:30 PM on Friday, August 14, 2009) concerning the licensee's Troxler gauge. The gauge had been run over by a roller while in operation. The Radioactive Materials Program returned the call to the licensee's RSO at 7:45 AM on Monday, August 17. The accident occurred at 8AM on Friday, August 14. The guide rod and source rod were broken off the gauge, but the instrument's case was otherwise intact. The operator of the gauge placed it into the shipping container, placed the shipping container in the locked box on the back of the pickup truck, and transported the gauge back to the shop. The licensee's RSO surveyed the gauge and took wipe samples. Two radiation safety specialists from the Radioactive Materials Program visited the licensee, arriving at 12:00 noon on Monday, August 17. The radiation safety specialists visually inspected the gauge, took survey measurements with a maximum level of 100 mR/hr at the surface and 4 mR/hr at one meter from the shipping container, and also took wipe samples. When the gauge was run over, it was operating in "backscatter" mode, so the Cs-137 source was within the case of the gauge. The accident did damage the shutter mechanism for the Cs-137 source so that it could not be closed. The gauge in its shipping container was placed in a locked storage cabinet in the shop pending disposal. The local Troxler vendor had been contacted by the licensee's RSO. The licensee was advised to give the vendor the current radiation survey of the package and to obtain the results of the wipe tests prior to allowing the vendor to transport the gauge. The radiation safety specialists also visited the site of the accident, where they surveyed the ground at the site of the accident, the roller that ran over the gauge, and the pickup truck that transported the gauge. All surveyed areas at the accident location were at background.
VA Event Report ID No.: VA-2009-03