The following is a summary of a report provided by the State of California:
On the morning of November 27, 2012 a licensee technician was retrieving a gauge from one of its storage locations when it was noticed that the unit had been broken into and a gauge was stolen. There were six gauges at this location and five of them are accounted for.
A review of the gauge locking system was checked / confirmed. The nuclear gauge had two locks with a third lock/cable around the box. The roll-up door was locked and the gate to the storage facility itself was locked. The lock latch to the storage facility was broken. This was the evidence of forced entry into the unit.
The police were notified right away and came out and took a report. The licensee will also be placing a local ad, reporting the stolen gauge and offering a reward for any lead information to the finding of this gauge.
The licensee was able to move to another storage unit to secure the remaining five gauges. The licensee also purchased heavy duty chains or cables to wrap through all gauges at this location and other storage locations.
Gauge Manufacturer: CPN
Model: MC1DR
S/N: MD70108564
Source: Cs-137 10 mCi
AM-241 50 mCi
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