EN Revision Text: AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - LOSS OF A NUCLEAR DENSITY
GAUGE
The following report was received from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Radiation Protection via email:
On November 26, 2019 a lawyer representing the licensee reported the event via telephone. The licensee is Larson Design Group, USNRC Radioactive Material License No. 47-35062-01, PA reciprocity license PA-R0218. Details are sparse at this time. The lawyer stated an employee wrecked a vehicle carrying a nuclear gauge (with Cesium 137 and Americium 241) in a ditch late Friday night. He had a friend pick him up, leaving the vehicle and gauge unattended. At some point police found the vehicle and impounded it. The police recognized the radioactive material shipping case in the vehicle. They allowed the employee to claim the vehicle only after producing documentation indicating he was authorized to possess it. It is believed the gauge never left the vehicle and it is back in possession of the licensee. The DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] will update this event as soon as more information is provided.
PA Event Report ID No.: 190028
- * * UPDATE FROM JOHN CHIPPO TO KARL DIEDERICH AT 1004 EST ON 12/11/19 * * *
The following update was received from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Radiation Protection via fax:
The nuclear gauge was a Troxler 3440 (S/N: 33739) containing 8.1 mCi of Cs-137 and 40 mCi of Am-241/Be. The gauge was impounded by police and was out of the licensee's control for approximately 60 hours6.944444e-4 days <br />0.0167 hours <br />9.920635e-5 weeks <br />2.283e-5 months <br />. The employee responsible has had his employment terminated. As part of corrective actions, the licensee will review its training practices and update as necessary."
Notified R1DO (Lally) and (via e-mail) NMSS Events group, ILTAB, and CNSC.
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