The following report was received from the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania via facsimile:
Notifications: The Department's [Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Bureau of Radiation Protection] Southwest Office received a phone call on July 1, 2014 regarding a lost nuclear density gauge. This event is reportable per 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(i).
Event Description: The nuclear density gauge in question was last used on Friday, June 27th, at a job site in Mt. Lebanon, PA. The employee who used the gauge, reported returning the gauge (in its case) to the licensee's storage area that afternoon. That same employee reported, at close of business on Monday June 30th, that 'the case was now empty.' An inspection by the licensee [revealed] the case and lock were both intact inside the locked storage area. There were no signs of forced entry and nothing else was missing. The employee has been questioned multiple times and maintains that the gauge was returned to the storage area in the case on Friday, June 27th. The licensee also went back to [search] the job site in Mt. Lebanon, but did not find the gauge.
Gauge Model: Troxler 3411B, Serial # 5434, containing 9 mCi Cs-137 and 44 mCi Am-241 sources.
Cause of the Event: Unknown at this time.
Actions: The local police are being notified and the licensee is offering a reward for the return of the gauge. The Department issued a press release on July 1, 2014, with a photo of the Troxler gauge and noting the reward. The Department's Southwest Regional Office will conduct an reactive inspection. More information will be provided upon receipt.
PA Report #: PA140014
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.