The following report was received via facsimile:
At 1545 EST on 12/14/10, the Florida Bureau of Radiation Control received an initial report from the licensee concerning a stolen soil moisture density gauge. The gauge was stolen from a truck at either the employee's residence [Branford, FL] or the licensee's place of business. A chain was cut from the truck securing the case with the gauge inside. Both the case and gauge were discovered stolen. The licensee still has keys to the gauge and will offer a reward for its recovery. Jacksonville Inspection Office will investigate.
The Soil Moisture Density Gauge is a Troxler Model 3430, serial #27858, containing 40 mCi of Am/Be and 8 mCi of Cs-137 sources.
FL Incident No.: FL10-120
- * * UPDATE FROM STEVE FURNACE TO JOE O'HARA AT 1614 AT 12/29/10 * * *
On December 15, 2010, the gauge was discovered by a private citizen in Suwannee County, Florida and placed in the custody of the police department. The gauge was locked and undamaged. The incident has been referred to the state licensing and materials office for further investigation.
Notified R1DO(Hansell), FSME(Watson), and ILTAB via e-mail.
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