On 6/5/2007 during an NRC Inspection, ten (10)
tritium exit signs were verified in storage. Approximately one month later in July 2007, the
RSO noticed that the signs were gone and assumed that his Director had dispositioned them, i.e., returned them to the manufacturer for disposal.
On 3/17/2011 at 0800 CDT, in response to a followup question from an NRC Inspector onsite 3/16/2011, it was determined there was no documentation associated with the transfer or disposal of these signs. The licensee contacted the NRC Inspector who was still in the area and informed her of this situation.
The licensee has no information on the manufacturer, activity or serial numbers of the missing exit signs.
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