ENS 48160
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
05:00 May 18, 2012 | |
| Title | Agreement State Report - Unaccounted for Barium-133 Sources |
| Event Description | The following information was received from the Mississippi Department of Radiation Health via e-mail:
Two (2) Ba-133 [3.86 mCi each] attenuation sources were discovered missing from a quarterly health physics audit at Grenada Lake Medical Center by their consultant. It was discovered by the health physics consultant in early July that documentation regarding the receipt of the sources was not available. On 5-18-2012, Bayshore Medical, a third party company was contracted by Philips Healthcare to disassemble and remove a Marconi Axis gamma camera from Grenada Lake Medical Center. The sources were encased inside tungsten holders that were installed inside beacon devices attached to each head of the camera. The nuclear medicine technologist at Grenada Lake Medical Center showed the service engineer for de-installation of the camera the location of the camera and explained to him that Grenada Lake Medical Center would need a receipt record for the two (2) sources removed. The technologist left work for a week during the time the gamma camera was being disassembled and removed from the facility. Upon returning back to the facility the technologist forgot to verify receipt of the sources from the service company. Bayshore Medical claimed there was no radioactive sources installed on the Marconi camera removed from Grenada Lake Medical Center. Neither Bayshore Medical or the company that de-installed / bought the camera has a radioactive materials license. Grenada Lake Medical Center has been in contact with Bayshore Medical to track the location of the beacon devices and return them to their facility. The licensee has contacted Philips Healthcare for copies of service records to show the sources were previously installed in the camera. DRH [Mississippi Department of Radiation Health] was contacted by Grenada Lake Medical Center's health physics consultant on 8-3-2012 with a scheduled return date of 8-6-2012, for the beacon devices and sources in question. DRH [Mississippi Department of Radiation Health] received a written report of the incident on 8-3-2012. Grenada Lake Medical Center's Radiation Safety Committee has discussed the issue and has developed a policy for future source transfers to prevent a reoccurrence of this incident. Grenada Lake Medical Center will have a person physically verify the removal of any radioactive source along with completing a transfer record prior to any source transfer. Also, Grenada Lake Medical Center will verify that a service company has a radioactive material license to possess and transfer radioactive material. MS Event: 120002
The following information was received from the Mississippi Department of Radiation Health via e-mail: Between 5-18-2012 and 5-28-2012, a service engineer from IRS disassembled and removed a Marconi Axis gamma camera from Grenada Lake Medical Center. The camera was previously sold to Philips Healthcare by the licensee. Philips Healthcare then sold the camera to Bayshore Medical who then sold the camera to IRS. The camera remained at the licensee's location throughout the multiple transactions. On 8-10-2012, IRS, the company who bought the camera from Bayshore Medical and de-installed the camera from the licensee's location on 5-18-2012, was contacted by DRH [Mississippi Department of Radiation Health]. IRS claimed there were no sources present prior to de-installation of the camera from the licensee's facility." Notified R4DO (Hagar) and FSME Resources Events via email. 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. |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Grenada Lake Medical Center Grenada, Mississippi (NRC Region 4) | |
| License number: | MS-410-01 |
| Organization: | Mississippi Div Of Rad Health |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+1927.98 h80.333 days <br />11.476 weeks <br />2.641 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Jason Moak 12:59 Aug 6, 2012 |
| NRC Officer: | Pete Snyder |
| Last Updated: | Aug 14, 2012 |
| 48160 - NRC Website | |
Grenada Lake Medical Center with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 481602012-05-18T05:00:00018 May 2012 05:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State Report - Unaccounted for Barium-133 Sources 2012-05-18T05:00:00 | |