The following was received from the State of
Colorado via email:
At appx. 5:30 MST on 3/10/14 the licensee's employee noticed that the window in his vehicle had been broken and the contents stolen. This included a CPN Model MC-1-DR portable nuclear gauge (Serial Number : MD10800432) containing two licensed sources (10 mCi Cs-137 and 50 mCi Am:Be).
The vehicle was parked at the employees residence. The gauge was contained within a locked transport container. Although, the vehicle was locked there was no secondary tangible barrier preventing unauthorized removal of the gauge.
The event was reported to the Wheatridge police on the morning of 3/10/14 and to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment at appx. 8:15 a.m. MST 3/10/14.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment received a follow up call at appx. 11:00 a.m. MST 3/10/14, indicating that the gauge was located by a member of the public and recovered by the licensee.
The gauge was still in the locked transport container when it was recovered and there was no signs of damage to the case or indications that an attempt was made to open the case.
A site visit will be conducted by a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment inspector to interview staff and complete the investigation of the incident in the near future.
Event Report ID Number: CO14-I14-03
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