The following information was obtained from the State of
Texas via email:
On March 15, 2016, the licensee notified the Agency [Texas Department of State Health Services] that one of its technicians had stopped by an apartment complex on his way to a temporary job site and had left a Troxler model 3430 moisture/density gauge (SN: 63944) secured with 2 chains in the back of the company truck while he went inside an apartment. When he returned to his vehicle, he found that the chains had been cut, the transport case was on the ground near the vehicle, and the gauge had been removed. The licensee's radiation safety officer reported that the insertion rod on the gauge was locked and the technician had the key. The RSO notified local law enforcement and searched the immediate area. They will continue and expand their search for the gauge. The gauge contained a 40 milliCurie americium-241 source and an 8 milliCurie cesium-137 source. An investigation into this event is ongoing. Further information will be provided as it is obtained in accordance with SA-300.
Texas Incident #: I-9386
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