ENS 50944
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
18:00 Mar 30, 2015 | |
| Title | Agreement State Report - Loss of Control of Moisture/Density Gauge |
| Event Description | The following report was received from the State of California Department of Public Health via email:
This is to report a nuclear gauge was 'lost' by the licensee, but was found by the licensee within a couple of hours at the jobsite where it was being used. The gauge was not damaged. At 1334 PDT on March 30, 2015, the Department [State of California Department of Public Health] was notified by the corporate RSO [Radiation Safety Officer] that a nuclear gauge (Troxler model 3440, serial number 18204, containing 8 mCi Cs-137 and 40 mCi Am-241:Be) could not be found by the licensee. The gauge user reported he had driven from a job site at the corner of Fairview Road and Walkabout Drive to the McDonalds at 1607 Panama Lane in Bakersfield which is about 1 mile away. When he returned to his truck, he noticed the tailgate was down and the gauge/transport case were missing. The gauge user drove back to the jobsite and looked to see if the gauge had fallen off of the truck when he had driven to McDonalds. He did not see it on the roadside. He returned to the jobsite and found the transport case with no gauge inside. He looked around the jobsite and did not see the gauge near where he had been working. He asked others on the jobsite if they had seen the gauge, but no one had. The gauge user drove back to the McDonalds one more time and still did not see a gauge along the roadside. The Bakersfield police and the Department were notified that they had lost a gauge. At 1452 PDT on the same day, the Bakersfield police emailed [the Department] stating the licensee had found the gauge. [The Department] confirmed this with the licensee. The RSO had gone to the jobsite himself and had found the gauge in a culvert on the jobsite. At this point no one knows how the gauge ended up in the culvert. The gauge is now back in the possession of the licensee and does not show any damage. The gauge user was counseled for not keeping control over the gauge and retraining will be given to all gauge users regarding control and security of the gauge when in use and when it is not in use. California Report Number: 033015 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 |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Krazen & Associates, Inc. Bakersfield, California (NRC Region 4) | |
| License number: | 8028-15 |
| Organization: | California Radiation Control Prgm |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+43.43 h1.81 days <br />0.259 weeks <br />0.0595 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Donelle Krajewski 13:26 Apr 1, 2015 |
| NRC Officer: | Jeff Herrera |
| Last Updated: | Apr 1, 2015 |
| 50944 - NRC Website | |
Krazen & Associates, Inc. with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 509442015-03-30T18:00:00030 March 2015 18:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State Report - Loss of Control of Moisture/Density Gauge 2015-03-30T18:00:00 | |