The following synopsis was received via phone and email from the
New Mexico Radiation Control Bureau:
At 1230 MDT on 05/09/2024, a Delta 880 industrial radiography camera containing an activity of 74 curies of iridium (Ir-192) has been determined to be lost on a closed non-public road on an oil field lease. The camera serial number is D15729. The sealed source serial number is 93189M.
Local law enforcement has been informed, details to follow.
NM Event number: ENTS 18002
Notified the following external agencies: DHS Senior Watch Officer, FEMA Operations Center, USDA Operations Center, HHS Operations Center, DOE Operations Center, CISA Central, EPA Emergency Operations Center, FDA Emergency Operations Center, Nuclear SSA (email), FEMA National Watch Center (email), CWMD Watch Desk (email)
- * * UPDATE ON 5/14/2024 AT 1723 EDT FROM VICTOR DIAZ TO SAMUEL COLVARD * * *
The following is a summary of information received from the New Mexico Radiation Control Bureau via phone and email:
The Delta 880 camera has been found by a member of the public and is in process of being transferred to a representative of the Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Assistance Program for inspection and transfer to a DOE facility. The device has an automatic locking mechanism and there is no indication of public exposure at this time.
Notified R4DO (Josey), NMSS Regional Coordinator (Williams), IRMOC (Grant), ILTAB (MacDonald), INES National Officer (email), NMSS Events Notification (email), NMSS INES Coordinator (email).
Notified the following external agencies: DHS Senior Watch Officer, FEMA Operations Center, USDA Operations Center, HHS Operations Center, DOE Operations Center, CISA Central, EPA Emergency Operations Center, FDA Emergency Operations Center (email), Nuclear SSA (email), FEMA National Watch Center (email), CWMD Watch Desk (email), CNSNS-Mexico (email).
THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A Category 2 LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL
Category 2 sources, if not safely managed or securely protected, could cause permanent injury to a person who handled them, or were otherwise in contact with them, for a short time (minutes to hours). It could possibly be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period of hours to days. These sources are typically used in practices such as industrial gamma radiography, high dose rate
brachytherapy and medium dose rate
brachytherapy. For additional information go to
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf