The following information was provided by the
Texas Department of State Health Services (the Department) by email:
On July 15, 2024, the Department was notified by the licensee that a moisture density gauge had been stolen from the back of one of its trucks. The radiation safety officer (RSO) reported that the technician had taken the gauge to their apartment after completing work on Friday, July 12, 2024. On July 14, 2024, the technician found the chains that secured the gauge in the back of the pickup truck had been cut and the gauge was missing. The gauge is an InstroTek Xplorer 3500, containing a 40 millicurie americium-241 source and a 11 millicurie cesium-137 source. The RSO stated local law enforcement has been notified of the theft. The RSO stated they have been in contact with local pawn shops in the area. The licensee is watching online marketplaces for the gauge. The RSO stated the gauge does not present an exposure hazard to an individual.
Additional information will be provided as it is received in accordance with SA-300.
Texas incident number: I-10112
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
- * * UPDATE ON JULY 17, 2024, AT 0840 EDT FROM ART TUCKER TO BRIAN P. SMITH * * *
The following summary was provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services (the Department) by phone and email:
On July 16, 2024, the licensee reported to the State that they confirmed that the cesium-137 source rod was locked in the fully shielded condition. This updated information is pertinent in that the dose risk to the public is minimal. The condition does not present an exposure hazard to the public.
Notified R4DO (Taylor),
NMSS Events (email),
ILTAB (email),
CNSNS (Mexico) (email)