The following information was received from the
Texas Department of State Health Services [the Agency] via email:
On May 2, 2023, the Agency was notified by the licensee that they were unable to locate a 200 millicurie cobalt - 60 source. The licensee stated that the company had three locations in the United States, one in California, one in Louisiana, and one in Texas. In January of 2023, the company decided to close its offices. The company transferred all its sources to the Texas location. The sources were then sent to a source disposal company in Texas. During the last transfer of sources, the cobalt source could not be found. The licensee searched for the source at the Texas facility but could not find it. The process of locating where the source might be is complicated by the fact that the licensee had laid off most of the employees. The Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) was included in the layoff.
The individual tasked by the company to dispose of the sources contacted a few of the previous employees and was told that the source was transferred to the location in Louisiana. [The Agency] asked if they had the documents for the transfer. He stated they had given all the documents to the Louisiana location. He did not have a copy of the forms.
He said the source itself is about half the size of a magic marker. He said it is normally stored in a lead box in a sea van. He said that they would search their paperwork including the sign-out log in Louisiana to see if they can confirm the source was there.
The Agency advised the individual to go to Louisiana and search for the source in and around the storage area. He was also advised to get someone added to their license as RSO.
Additional information will be provided as it is received in accordance with SA-300
Texas Incident Number: 10014
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