The following information was received via e-mail:
The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) received a telephone notification on May 19, 2011 from the licensee concerning the loss of two tritium exit signs. They stated that during a remodeling process that the signs were taken down and mistakenly placed with the construction trash and sent to a landfill in Pike County, Illinois. The licensee stated that the signs were not retrievable. At the time of the notification, the licensee was not aware of the manufacturer, model number or activity of the signs. IDPH notified the Illinois Emergency Management Agency on May 20, 2011 regarding the exit signs in an Illinois landfill. IDPH was notified by the licensee on June 13, 2011 of the manufacturer, model number, serial number and activity of the sources.
Manufacturer: EvenLite, Inc.
Activity: 20 Ci each
Model: LEX Series
Serial Numbers: Z34957 and Z34946
Iowa event: IA110003
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