The following report was received via e-mail:
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Radiological Health was notified on February 1, 2017, by a representative from Olsson Associates, of a loss and subsequent return of licensed material from the back of a pickup truck on Wednesday, February 1, 2017, in Omaha, Nebraska. The licensed material is a Troxler 3400 series moisture density gauge, serial number 19309, containing 9 mCi of Cs-137 and 44 mCi of Am:Be. The licensee reported to the State that an employee placed the licensed material on the back of the pickup truck and not in the yellow shipping case, and drove away from a temporary jobsite. While the employee made a right hand turn, the Troxler gauge fell out of the truck. A vehicle that was passing nearby found the Troxler gauge and returned it to the licensee about 10 minutes after the employee notified the Radiation Safety Officer. The gauge was visually inspected and no physical damage was found. The gauge was also surveyed to confirm the presence of the source. No elevated readings were found. The licensee has locked the gauge in the yellow shipping container and removed it from service. A follow-up site visit is scheduled and a 30 day written report is to follow.
Nebraska Event: NE-17-0001
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