The following is a summary of information provided by the licensee via phone:
The licensee reported that on March 6, 2025, a positron emission tomography (PET) camera with a 1490 microcurie germanium-68 sealed source was inadvertently shipped offsite without first removing the source. The licensee discovered that the source was unaccounted for on March 10, 2025, and concluded that it had been inadvertently shipped offsite with the camera. On March 13, 2025, the licensee's vendor for the camera located the camera in a vendor-contracted warehouse in Cudahy, WI. The vendor warehouse is not a licensed radioactive materials facility. Vendor personnel (field services engineer and health physicist) inspected the camera, which was secured in its storage container with the source in the shielded position, and determined there was no radiological impact. The vendor personnel secured the camera in a locked location at the warehouse and made warehouse personnel aware of the camera's location. The vendor is making arrangements to retrieve the camera.
The licensee plans to notify the NRC Region 3 office. The vendor will be notifying the State of Wisconsin.
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