The following information was received from the State of
California via email:
On March 31, 2021, Kern County Roads Department contacted the California Office of Emergency Services to report that one of their moisture-density gauges was lost while transporting the gauge back to their facility. The gauge was a CPN model MC1-DPR, Serial Number MD00505649 (10 mCi Cs-137, 50 mCi Am:Be-241, Nominal). At approximately 1130 PDT, the gauge, with the handle/trigger lock in place but outside of the transport case, was left on the tailgate of the truck by the gauge operator. The operator then went into the cab of the truck and started working on paperwork. The gauge operator then left the worksite without securing the gauge. Approximately two minutes later, the operator stopped for gas and found the gauge missing. The operator then retraced his path and could not find the gauge. The Alternate Radiation Safety Officer was contacted and went to the worksite with a survey meter to search for the gauge and could not find it. Kern County Sheriff's Department was contacted and a report was made. The licensee's investigation into this event is ongoing and will be reviewed further by the California Department of Public Health.
California Report Number: 033121
- * * UPDATE ON 4/2/2021 AT 1446 EDT FROM ANDREW TAYLOR TO KERBY SCALES * * *
The following update was received from the State of California via email:
On April 1, 2021, the Alternate Radiation Safety Officer notified the California Department of Public Health that the gauge was recovered after an individual found it and returned it to the worksite. He stated that the gauge appeared to be intact with no apparent damage. A leak test will be performed to ensure that the sealed sources are intact and not leaking.
Notified R4DO (Alexander), NMSS Events Notification, ILTAB, CSNS (Mexico) via email.
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