The following is a synopsis of information received via E-mail:
This event was originally reported via phone to the New Mexico Radiation Control Bureau on August 6, 2021.
This incident involved a double sided (2 sign faces) tritium exit sign. Specific details of the sign are: Radioactive Material: Tritium (H-3), Quantity: 7.5 Ci per sign face, Chemical and Physical form: Gas, Manufacturer: Sign Tex Inc.
This sign was located outside of the hospital building. The sign was damaged, and was then cleaned up by facilities and placed in a trash receptacle. The staff member who cleaned up the sign was confident that none of the glass ampules were broken and that all pieces were collected. The incident was then reported to the Safety Officer and the sign was removed from the waste bin. The Safety Officer then reported the sign to the RSO [Radiation Safety Officer] for guidance on how to properly dispose of the sign. Upon evaluation of the sign it was discovered that a part of one of the sign faces was missing. This piece includes the ampules which make up the letter "T" and an arrow (3 tubes total) of the sign. In addition, the sign casing was reported as missing. The activity information noted above was received from the sign manufacturer based off of the part number listed on the Order Acknowledgement document. The order date was reported as August 23, 2017. As there is no observable original date for the H-3, no decay correction was made in order to be conservative. It is currently assumed that the casing and the missing piece were disposed of, and due to the radiological properties, the piece was not detected by any waste radiation monitors. All remaining pieces of the sign are intact and were observed to glow, confirming that the ampules are not leaking.
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