ENS 51098
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
04:00 Mar 10, 2015 | |
| Title | Agreement State Report - Two Lost Nuclear Thickness Gauges |
| Event Description | The following information was received via fax:
Genpac, LLC reported that two NCR Systems thickness gauges, SS&D No. CA0471D102B, device model No. 103, each containing 150 millicuries of Americium-241 were unaccounted for. The loss was discovered after Genpac was contacted by the [New York State] Department in February 2015, in order to initiate their periodic License Renewal process. At that time the company requested a license termination. A phone interview revealed that the company no longer had any gauges with radioactive materials (RAM) in use and that the Radiation Safety Officer had left the company. However, they could not provide documentation showing that the RAM had been transferred to an authorized recipient. The company has no knowledge of its disposition. The sources were last identified as being on site during a Department inspection conducted on February 10, 2010. The facility failed to maintain inventories and leak testing after the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) left the company in 2010. The Department was not notified of the departure of the RSO. A Reactive Inspection was conducted by [New York State] Department staff on March 10, 2015. During the inspection, a thorough search of the authorized storage locations and potential storage locations for surplus equipment was completed and the devices were not located. The consequences for the potential loss of Licensed RAM was discussed with Genpac management during the exit interview. At that time, an acceptable action plan was developed in order to locate the potentially missing RAM. On May 15, 2015, the company management notified the [New York State] Department that they had determined that they are unable to locate these sealed sources. This comes after interviewing staff with potential knowledge of the location of the devices and an extensive in-house search of their premises, the storage out-buildings and other locations within the Genpac organization that make use of Radioactive Materials (RAM) in the United States. New York State ID: NYDOH-15-04 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 | |
|---|---|
| Genpac, Llc Middleburg, New York (NRC Region 1) | |
| License number: | C2991 |
| Organization: | New York State Dept. Of Health |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+1929.53 h80.397 days <br />11.485 weeks <br />2.643 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Mike Harmon 13:32 May 29, 2015 |
| NRC Officer: | Mark Abramovitz |
| Last Updated: | May 29, 2015 |
| 51098 - NRC Website | |
Genpac, Llc with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 510982015-03-10T04:00:00010 March 2015 04:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State Report - Two Lost Nuclear Thickness Gauges 2015-03-10T04:00:00 | |