ENS Event | |
|---|---|
05:00 Jul 21, 2021 | |
| Title | Damaged Portable Gauge |
| Event Description | The following was received from the state of Kansas via email:
On 4/21/22 during the course of an inspection of the facility, the State of Kansas discovered that an incident involving one of their portable gauges occurred on 7/21/2021. This incident was never reported to Kansas and was discovered through the inspection process. Licensee Kansas State University (# 38-C011-01) had a Campbell Pacific Nuclear model 503 portable gauge (serial number 50505) damaged while being used in a field at the Hutchinson, Kansas field research station. The gauge contained 50 mCi of AmBe. The gauge was run over when the student who was using the gauge under the oversight of the local RSO [Radiation Safety Officer] (unknown at this time if the local RSO was present at the site) backed a vehicle over it. At this time Kansas has not been able to determine if the student left the gauge unattended for a brief time or if the student did not properly secure the gauge into the vehicle and it fell out. The gauge was inspected immediately after the incident, and it was found that, though the gauge shielding appeared to be intact, the shipping case was damaged. Immediately following the incident, the student contacted their Primary Investigator (PI), who is a university instructor overseeing the student's project, to inform him of the incident, but it was reported that the PI asked if it was urgent and the student said no. The gauge was discovered damaged by the PI a week later on 7/28/2021. Upon discovery, the PI reported that he ordered a new shipping case and ordered leak tests. The leak tests were performed on 7/29/2021 and did not show damage to the source. The damage to the gauge housing was on the opposite side of the machine from the source and did not interfere with the source's insertion or retraction. Because of this, the licensee stated that they decided it was not reportable to Kansas. An investigation is underway to determine what steps were taken by the licensee, including possible repairs to the unit. Follow-up information will be provided as it is obtained. |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Kansas State University Hutchinson, Kansas (NRC Region 4) | |
| License number: | 38-C011-01 |
| Organization: | Kansas Dept Of Health & Environment |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+6612.05 h275.502 days <br />39.357 weeks <br />9.057 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Kimberly Steves 17:03 Apr 22, 2022 |
| NRC Officer: | Kerby Scales |
| Last Updated: | Apr 22, 2022 |
| 55855 - NRC Website
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Kansas State University with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 558552021-07-21T05:00:00021 July 2021 05:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Damaged Portable Gauge 2021-07-21T05:00:00 | |