The following report was received from the
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality via fax:
Event date and time: The source was detected in a load of scrap metal on April 13, 2013.
Event location: Source was detected in a load of scrap metal, being loaded for transport to a smelting mill, at the Southern Scrap facility, [in Scott, LA.].
Event type: The radioactive source was a rod source, later determined to be 3.29 mCi of Cs-137. The source was retrieved and stored [in a] shielded [location] until Southern Scrap's licensed consultant, ARS [American Radiation Services], was able to package and transport the unknown source to their facility in Port Allen, LA.
Notifications: LDEQ [Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality] was notified by phone on April 18, 2013 at 1620 [CDT] of the discovery.
Event description: On April 13, 2013, an unknown source of radiation was discovered in a load of scrap being sent to NUCOR Steel in TX. The source was detected before the load of scrap left the Southern Scrap yard. American Radiation Services (ARS), a licensed radiation safety contractor, was called to prepare [the source] for safe shipping, determine the isotope and activity, and do an appropriate disposal of the unknown source.
ARS made the determinations and found the rod source to be 3.29 mCi of Cs-137. [ARS then] packaged [the source] for transportation and disposal. ARS contacted ADCO Services, in Illinois, for the disposal. (During an earlier attempt for a licensee to utilize ADCO Services, [LDEQ] learned that ADCO did not have a current Illinois license to provide services.) ARS was notified the ADCO Services was not licensed to provide services and that ARS would have to contact and contract with another licensee for these services.
ARS contacted QSA Global in Baton Rouge, LA, and arranged for their receipt and disposal of the orphaned source. The origin and owner of the source could not be determined and Southern Scrap absorbed the cost of the safety services and disposal. QSA Global took possession of the source June 7, 2013. The initial notification was made to the NRC in April 2013; however, documentation of this call to the [NRC] OP Center could not be located. The supporting documents are attached to the fax.
Transport vehicle description: ARS Company Vehicles.
Media attention: N/A
Louisiana Event: #LA-140005