The following information was received from the State of
Washington via email:
At 2030 PDT on July 21, 2014 a Level 2 radiographer doing radiography for QualSpec at the Tesoro Anacortes Refinery in Washington was potentially over exposed to radiation. The individual was conducting an examination in the Catalytic Reformer Unit #10 on 3/4 inch piping on line #L-V6657. The individual noticed the survey meter he had with him was off the 10 Mr/hr scale. He immediately returned to the crank and noticed the source was still out, hence he cranked the source back in. The individual checked his pocket dosimeter and it was also off scale. He then shut down the job and contacted the RSO. An estimated calculated dose was approximately 7 rem, however, his TLD was sent in for emergency processing on Tuesday, July 22, 2014, to determine the actual dose. More information to come including equipment, activity, etc.
Incident Number: WA-14-028
The State of Washington will investigate and has categorized this incident as an Abnormal Occurrence.
- * *UPDATE PROVIDED BY STEPHEN MATTHEWS TO JEFF ROTTON VIA EMAIL AT 1751 EDT ON 07/24/2014 * * *
The radiographer approached the source/collimater without cranking the source in. He also did not look at his survey meter during the approach to the source. After arriving at the source (within 2-3 feet) he noticed his survey meter was pegged on the 10 mR/hr scale. The dose on the radiographer's TLD was later determined to be 1.6 rem. The radiographer stated that he did not hear his alarming rate meter due to the noise level where he was working. This was also agreed on by the Tesoro NDE Official. The assistant radiographer was approximately 50 feet away in a lower area looking up at the operation as well as the immediate area. The radiographer's survey meter was an NDS ND2000, serial 21940, calibrated on 6-14-14; pocket dosimeter was an Arrowtech w138, serial 097093, calibrated 4-14-14; and his alarm ratemeter was an NDS RA500, serial N82947, calibrated 5-14-14.
The radiography camera was a QSA Global model number: A424-9, serial number 16141C containing a 84.6 Curie Ir-192 source.
Corrective Actions: Personnel received additional training to include lessons learned regarding forgetting to crank the source in, and forgetting to watch the survey meter while approaching the source area.
Notified R4DO (Miller),
FSME Daytime Officer (McIntosh),
NSIR (Milligan), and
FSME Events Resource via email.