The following information was obtained from the State of
Utah via facsimile:
On November 9, 2011 at about 8:30 AM [MST], [the licensee RSO] was contacted by one of [their] radiographers and told that the self locking mechanism on one of [their] cameras was not working. The camera was SN D7217 manufactured by Sentinel. The model is a 880 Delta which was purchased new in January of this year and put into service February 4, 2011. Though the camera did not automatically lock when the source had been returned to the shielded position, the lock slide had been manually returned to the locked position after retracting the source and a survey by the radiographer showed that the source was shielded and the camera was then locked. [The radiographer] is a level II IRRSP [Industrial Radiography and Radiation Safety Personnel] certified radiographer who was working in [the facility's] permanent installation B cell when the incident occurred. The entrance and area alarm for B cell were working properly at the time of the event and confirmed what the survey showed which was that the source was in the shielded position. [The radiographer] demonstrated that the lock slide was not coming back over to lock the camera automatically when the source was returned to the camera as it was designed to do. After the demonstration, the camera was surveyed to ensure the source was in the shielded position, the slide lock was then slid to the lock position manually, the camera locked and [was] removed from service. The radiographer did not receive any radiation exposure associated with the failure of the slide lock mechanism.
[The RSO] contacted the manufacturer the same day and was instructed to return the camera for repair. The camera had a 13.7 Ci
Ir-192 source in it. The camera was sent overnight to Sentinel/QSA Global in Baton Rouge, La.. [The RSO] was contacted by the service technician the next afternoon, November 10, 2011. He informed [the RSO] that one of the springs had broken and that was the cause of the malfunction of the slide lock. A new rear plate assembly was installed by Sentinel and the camera was then returned to [the licensee] facility with a new
Ir-192 source of 97 curies. The camera was put back into service on Monday November 14, 2011 and has been operating properly since.