The following was received from the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency (the Agency) via phone and email:
During Agency efforts to pursue an annual self-inspection report from a general licensee (Midwest Industrial Metals), it was discovered that a Niton XLp-818 XRF device containing 30 milliCuries of Am-241 could not be accounted for. According to licensee staff, the device was sent to the manufacturer for repair/evaluation. The licensee elected not to have the device repaired and it was returned to them. In June of 2019, the Agency asked for a physical verification of the device. Agency staff again contacted the licensee on October 28, 2019. At that point, the licensee confirmed that search activities have ceased and they were officially declaring the device as lost. The licensee reports that there is no indication of theft or intentional diversion. This matter will remain open pending appropriate enforcement action.
Item Number: IL190031
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