ABANDONED SOURCES
The following information was provided by the Massachusetts Radiation Control Program via email:
On 1/8/2024, area portal monitors at a dump site (Republic Services) alarmed. On 1/9/2025, a consultant was called and arrived at the scene. The consultant discovered an empty vial giving a dose rate of 4.1 mR/hr on contact. The vial had a marking which looked to have been removed before it was disposed.
On 1/30/2025, three more vials were discovered in the same trash load. The vials were full of thin solid rods and maxed out the meter available at the dump site. The consultant was called back to the site and arrived on 1/31/2025. The consultant measured 40-50 mR/hr on contact for two of the vials, and 100 mR/hr on contact for the third vial. The dose rate with all of the vials in one bag measured 1.5 mR/hr at two feet from the bag. The consultant noted that the markings were removed from these vials, but a label reading 'radium' was still visible. The vials were placed in a secure location at the facility. A member of Massachusetts Division of Radiation Control staff was on-site on 1/31/2025, to ensure all material was handled appropriately.
Assuming all of the vials contain radium-226, with a dose rate of 1.5 mR/hr at 2 feet, a rough calculation estimates approximately 0.7 mCi of radium-226 exists in the vials.
This quantity of found material is immediately reportable to NRC pursuant to 105 CMR 120.281.
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