The following report in part was received via email from the
Maine Radiological Control Program [MRCP]:
The licensee service manager contacted MRCP by phone on December 22, 2023, to report that a source could not be accounted for during a monthly source inventory. The service manager reported that the missing source had been observed in the service area of the licensee's facility in Windsor, ME, approximately two weeks before the inventory identified it as missing. The missing source had been removed from a customer's machine and replaced with a new source. The missing source is an 8 mCi Ni-63 source with serial number 09-6700 from Isotope Products Laboratories, Valencia, CA. The source was still in its sealed form inside the detector housing which is assembled with tamper-proof screws. Once the source was determined unaccounted for in the monthly inventory, a team of licensee employees searched the entire facility, spending in excess of 20 man-hours trying to locate it. The licensee's best assumption is that the missing source may have been accidentally disposed of during a recent shop cleaning. MRCP conducted a site inspection on January 2, 2024, to gather information regarding the incident. A licensee service technician was able to trace the waste stream which is routinely deposited in a dumpster and is then transported to the Waterville, ME, transfer station. As of January 19, 2024, the missing Ni-63 source remains lost.
Maine Event Report Number: ME 2023-002
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