ENS Event | |
|---|---|
18:35 Apr 5, 2018 | |
| Title | Lost Radioactive Material |
| Event Description | A Marine Corps CH-53 helicopter crashed around 1453 PDT on 5 April 2018 at the outlying landing field of Naval Air Facility El Centro, California. This helicopter carries seven in-blade-inspection-systems (IBIS), one per blade, and each one carries a strontium-90 source with an activity of 0.5 milliCuries. The U.S. Navy was able to retrieve five of the IBIS, but two of them were not located after several surveys of the aircraft and the surrounding area. The U.S. Navy is reporting those two sources as lost for a total 1 milliCurie of strontium-90.
The Licensee has notified NRC Region 1 (Seeley) and (Elliott).
The sixth strontium-90 source has been found buried under the fuselage wreckage. That leaves only one strontium-90 source missing for a total of 0.5 mCi lost. Notified R1DO (Jackson) and NMSS Events Notification (email).
The last report was made in error. Upon evaluation of the sixth IBIS (buried underneath a gear box), they found no source pin, hence we still have two missing IBIS sources. Personnel will be surveying the area in the next couple of days in the hope of finding the two missing sources. Notified R1DO (Lilliendahl) and NMSS Events Notification (email). 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 | |
|---|---|
| United States Navy Virginia (NRC Region 1) | |
| License number: | 45-23645-01NA |
| Organization: | United States Navy |
| Reporting | |
| 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(i) | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+137.05 h5.71 days <br />0.816 weeks <br />0.188 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Lino Fragoso 11:38 Apr 11, 2018 |
| NRC Officer: | Steven Vitto |
| Last Updated: | Apr 18, 2018 |
| 53325 - NRC Website | |
United States Navy with 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(i) | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 533252018-04-05T18:35:0005 April 2018 18:35:00
[Table view]10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(i) Lost Radioactive Material ENS 414672005-01-25T05:00:00025 January 2005 05:00:00 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(i) Unrecovered Radioactive Material 2018-04-05T18:35:00 | |