The following information was obtained from the State of
Ohio via email:
A contractor installed tritium self-illuminating exit signs between March 2004 and October 2005 at various locations as part of a US Army Corps of Engineers contract to renovate military recruiting centers. The contractor recently conducted an inventory of the signs it had installed and discovered that some signs were not located where the installation records indicated that they had been installed.
The signs in question are SRB Technologies, Model BetaLux-E, containing 10 Ci of H-3. Three (3) signs identified as missing in Ohio are: S/N 004222, installation address 1300 State Street, Alliance, Ohio, 44601 and S/Ns 009242 and 009243, installation address 2531 Franks Way, Columbus, Ohio, 43232.
The signs were not located during a physical inspection of the properties. Interviews with personnel currently occupying the sites provided no information as to the disposition of the signs. The contractor is currently replacing the H-3 signs with electric signs and is returning the H-3 signs to the manufacturer for proper disposal.
Contractor: Shaw Environmental, Inc. of Stoughton, MA.
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. For additional information go to http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf
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