The following was received from the state of
North Carolina, Radioactive Materials Branch (RMB):
Licensee reports that a laminating device containing a Kr-85 source was inadvertently disposed through their recycling service on 10/1 and was discovered missing on 11/4. On 11/5, working with the licensee, RMB was able to trace the disposal of the device to a recycling yard in York, SC. Licensee arranged with an authorized service provider that was able to assess the device for leakage/contamination and arrange for transport to return to vendor. No evidence of leakage or contamination was found, and the device was packaged and removed from the recycling yard on 11/6. South Carolina DHEC [Department of Health and Environmental Control] was made aware of this incident on 11/5.
Device Manufacturer: INDEV, Model: 015030-2, Serial: 2289-4
Source Manufacturer: INDEV, Model: 127-2, Isotope: Kr-85, Serial: KV-412, Activity: 500 mCi
Cause: The licensee identified the cause as human error/process error.
Corrective Action(s): Re-training of personnel, Methods & Procedure reviews and revising existing procedures.
NC event number: 200022
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