A representative for Pinnacle Airlines called to report that the company has records of various radioactive sources which cannot be located and are presumed lost. The airline is undergoing bankruptcy reorganization. The individual noted that the sources were previously registered under a company called Mesaba Airlines. Mesaba Airlines was at one time associated with Northwest Airlines. The individual believes that the devices were originally registered with the NRC as general licensed material. The material records indicate that the company was in the possession of 10 "
Tritium Light Comparators" of approximately 1 curie each. The company has been able to locate 5 of these sources: In Knoxville TN; Memphis TN; Detroit MI; and Ft. Wayne IN. In addition, the company states that it had five explosive detector sources that are unaccounted for and (10 millicuries
Nickel - 63 each) were last stored in
Michigan (Esbaneba, Muskegon Kincheloe, and Gwinn MI). There may also be some missing
Tritium Exit signs but the licensee has not been able to determine how many or where they were last located.
At this time, the licensee believes that this material is lost and that the responsible reporting agency is the NRC. The sources are registered on the generally licensed source tracking list. The licensee has discussed this information with NRC Region 3 (Reichhold).
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