The following information was obtained from the State of
Texas via email:
On May 14, 2018, the licensee notified the Agency [Texas Department of State Health Services] that on the morning of May 12, 2018, one of its Troxler model 3430+ moisture/density gauges (SN: 69854), containing a 40 milliCurie americium-241 source (SN: 47-19592) and an 8 milliCurie cesium-137 source (SN: 77-13965), had been stolen from a licensee's vehicle while it was parked at a restaurant in Houston, Texas. The gauge was locked inside its transport case which was secured with chains in the back of the licensee's vehicle. The technician had stopped to eat breakfast between picking up the gauge at the licensed site and reporting to the temporary job site. When he arrived at the job site, he found the chains cut, the gauge and standard plate had been stolen, but the transport case was still there. The technician reported the theft to his supervisors who did not report to the licensee's radiation safety officer until May 14th. The theft has been reported to local law enforcement. An investigation into this event is ongoing.
Texas Incident Number: 9571
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