The following information was provided by the licensee via email:
During an inspection on 7/26/22, the RSO [Radiation Safety Officer] of Advanced Geotechnical Solutions stated that on March 6, 2021, an Authorized User of radioactive gauges for Advanced Geotechnical Solutions discovered that his SUV had been broken into and the radioactive gauge Troxler, 3430, serial #70783 that he had checked out from the permanent storage site at [REDACTED], had been stolen. The Authorized User had transported the radioactive gauge to his personal residence and left it locked in his vehicle rather than transport it back to the permanent storage location in Escondido. The Authorized User reported the theft to his RSO, and to the San Diego Police Department, and the RSO reported the theft to Cal OES [California Governor's Office of Emergency Services] on 3/7/21, instead of to the Brea, CA office since it was a weekend. The report of the lost gauge apparently did not get to the Brea office, and consequently no investigation was conducted, nor was the theft reported to NRC.
The RSO had contacted 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, but the gauge has not been recovered. The investigation is ongoing, including why the Cal OES report did not get to the Brea, CA, RHB [Radiologic Health Branch] inspection office.
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