The following information was obtained from the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania via fax:
Alcoa was doing some renovations and had a previous inventory of nine (9) general license [GL] tritium exit signs. During the renovation it was discovered that only seven (7) were accounted for.
Details of the two missing exit signs: Evenlite, Inc. Model #201, serial numbers 1388F and 389F, each containing 10.5 Ci of tritium.
CAUSE OF THE EVENT: Though these GL tritium exit signs comply with NRC regulations for labeling to alert the user that they contain radioactive material, the size of the label is woefully inadequate to prevent unintentional loss of the GL device. This event is another example.
ACTIONS: No reactive inspection is planned at this time. It is expected these two tritium exit signs have or will end up in an unlicensed Commonwealth of Pennsylvania landfill.
PA Report ID No.: PA120015
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