The following is a summary of a call with the US Army Aviation Missile Command.
While taking inventory of sources located in decommissioned helicopter lasers, the US Army Aviation Missile Command identified that they were missing 88 Am-241 sources located in 44 helicopter lasers. It can not be determined exactly where the sources were lost, though the licensee is going to provide possible options, including that the lasers could have been lost during combat. It is assumed that the sources are not in public areas. It can not be determined when the sources were lost.
The licensee noted that it is unlikely anyone would receive a dose as a result of this loss of material because it is difficult to retrieve the sources.
The US Army continues to attempt to find the sources during routine house keeping activities. They have a similar license for a new aircraft and will perform inventory checks more frequently to ensure that any losses are more promptly reported.
The licensee has notified the NRC Regional Office.
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