The following report was received from the State of
Louisiana via fax:
The source became stuck/lost down a strategic oil reserve cavern belonging to US DOE. Cavern named WH 9A, in West Hackberry field, Cameron/Cameron Parish, LA.
STC [the licensee] was logging/taking measurements in/down a strategic oil reserve cavern for the Department of Energy when the 125 mCi source became lost down cavern, STC abandoned in place the Cs-137 source and applied all practical applicable P/A procedures pertaining to a cavern. The source was declared irretrievable November 11, 2014, and requested approval of the information on the plaque. The source is believed to be on the bottom of the cavern at depth of 3,575 ft. Schlumberger, after several 'fishing' attempts, decided to 'cap'/abandon the location and move on.
LDEQ [Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality] was notified of the lodged source on October 27, 2014 [approximately] 1720 CDT. At that time, Schlumberger requested direction to abandon the irretrievable source. The request was granted by [LDEQ].
On October 27, 2014, STC contacted LDEQ with a preliminary notification reporting that a well-logging source was lost down-hole in a DOE Strategic Oil Reserve Cavern in Cameron Parish, LA. The source, a Gulf Nuclear, 125 mCi Cs-137 source, S/N CSV-129. This incident was reported and will be abandoned and maintained by the requirements of LAC 33: XV. 2051 and 2099, Appendix B.
LDEQ considers this event closed.
Louisiana Event Report ID No.: LA - 140012
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
Note: This device is assigned an
IAEA Category 3 value based on the actual radioactivity of the source, not on the device type. (Reference
IAEA RG-G-1.9)