The following was received from the
California, Department of Health, Radiologic Health Branch (
RHB Brea) via email:
On July 11, 2022, at approximately 1100 PDT, [redacted], the radiation safety officer (RSO) of Premier Testing & Inspection, Inc., Radioactive Materials License #7988-33, contacted RHB Brea to report the theft of a moisture/density gauge: CPN, MC-1, serial #MD40507409 (Cs-137, 0.370 Giga-Becquerels, Am-241, 1.85 Giga-Becquerels). The gauge had been in the back of a sport-utility-vehicle (SUV) (Subaru Crosstrek) parked in the front of an apartment building in Woodland Hills, CA, in the early morning hours prior to leaving for the temporary work site. The vehicle had been broken into by breaking the left rear window and removing the radioactive gauge from the vehicle. The Authorized User who discovered the missing radioactive gauge at approximately 0730 PDT on July 11, 2022, [redacted], notified the RSO and then notified the Los Angeles Police Department, who completed a police theft report. A copy of the theft report has been forwarded to the RHB Brea office to be included as part of this report. The RSO will contact local newspapers in an attempt to retrieve the stolen radioactive gauge, as well as notifying local servicing vendors of radioactive gauges to be alert for the serial number of the stolen gauge in case it turns up for service. The investigation will continue to determine if the radioactive gauge can be recovered.
CA 5010 Number 071122
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