A 50mCi
Cs-137 Kay-Ray Model 7062B (S/N 17573)
Gauge was recovered in a pile of scrap steel at the Pacific Steel & Recycling Company in Bozeman,
MT. The U.S. NRC Region IV contacted the device manufacturer to identify the owner of the general licensed source and dispatched an NRC Inspector on 12/3/10 to initiate a reactive inspection (PNO-RIV-2010-006).
The owner, Cyprus Industrial Minerals in Ennis, Montana, had purchased the gauge in June 1984 for use in their Yellowstone mine. The company was subsequently sold to Rio Tinto Minerals located in Three Forks, MT.
The representative from Rio Tinto Minerals is currently arranging for removal and disposal of the gauge in safe storage at the Pacific Steel & Recycling Company.
A conference call was held on 12/2/10 at 1800 EST with R4 (Vivian Campbell, Tony Gaines) and FSME (James Danna).
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