The following was received from the
Texas Department of State Health Services [the Agency] via e-mail:
On July 14, 2021, the licensee notified the Agency that in the process of terminating their license for radioactive materials, the Agency discovered that its records indicated the licensee had at one time a Thermo Niton XL3p-800 device, containing 30 millicuries of americium- 241, which was not on the licensee's current inventory of devices and they learned it had not been on their inventory for years. The licensee stated to the best of their knowledge the analyzer was loaned to a former associated company several years ago and this company was then sold or dissolved. It appears the analyzer was not returned to the licensee. The individuals who were, or may have been involved, are no longer employed by the licensee so further information is not available at this time. An investigation is ongoing. More information will be provided as it is obtained in accordance with SA-300.
Texas Incident No.: I-9868
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