The following was received by email from the
Texas Department of State Health Services [the Agency]:
On June 1, 2023, a steel mill notified the Agency that a load of scrap coming into their facility set off the radiation alarm. The source was identified as an inline-type density gauge and it was secured at their facility until more information could be identified on the device to determine the owner. On June 5, 2023, the facility found a phone number on the gauge that stated to call Schlumberger if the gauge was found. Schlumberger was contacted and stated the gauge had been sold to Liberty Oilfield Services INC. The Agency and steel mill contacted the licensee which picked up the gauge the same day. The gauge was a Thermo-Fisher model 5192, Serial # B7615 containing 200 mCi (7.4 GBq) of Cesium-137. An investigation is ongoing into how the licensee lost possession of the gauge.
Texas Incident number: 10024.
NMED National Event number: TX230026.
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