PNO-III-97-093, on 971116,nominal 98 Ci Ir-192 Radiography Source Became Stuck in Collimator Due to Drive Cable Failure.Rso Responded to Job Site & Was Able to Complete Source Recovery Operations
| ML20206R563 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 03004041 |
| Issue date: | 11/19/1997 |
| From: | Jamnes Cameron, Deborah Piskura NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| PNO-III-97-093, PNO-III-97-93, NUDOCS 9901200006 | |
| Download: ML20206R563 (1) | |
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? November 19, 1997 l
PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE PNO-III-97-093 1
This preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events of POSSIBLE safety or public interest significance. The information is as initially received without verification or evaluation, and is basically all that is known by Region III staff (Lisle, Illinois) on this date.
Facility Licensee Emergency Classification
'MQS Inspection, Inc.
Notification of Unusual Event Mqs. Inspection, Inc Alert Elk Grove Village, Illinois Site Area Emergency License No: 12-00622-07 General Emergency X Not Applicable l
Subject:
Notification of radiography source disconnect and off-scale dosimeter.
'On November 16, 1997, the licensee reported that a nominal 98 curie (3.6 TBq) iridium-192 radiography source had become stuck in the collimator due to drive cable failure. The licensee identified that attempts to l
retract the source following completion of a radiographic exposure that l
-day failed. The radiographers were at a job site at BP Petroleum facilities in Lima, Ohio. They notified their local radiation safety L
officer (RSO), who was at the licensee's field office located in i
Rochester Hills, Michigan. The RSO responded to the job site and was able l
to complete source recovery operations. During those operations, the RSO l
noted that his alarming ratemeter enunciated continuously. Following source recovery, the RSO determined that his pocket dosimeter was
'offscale (200 milliroentgen).
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Following return to the Rochester Hills office, the RSO sent his personnel dosimeter (film badge) to the vendor for emergency processing.
l On November 18, 1997, the RSO notified NRC Region III (Chicago) that the l
-vendor reported a recorded exposure of 1.5 rems (15 mSv).
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I A section of the drive cable involved in this incident has been sent to the manufacturer (Amersham), located in Burlington, Massachusetts, for l
testing. Preliminary information from the licensee indicated that the l
connector at the end of the cable became disconnected. The radiographic L
exposure device (Amersham Model 660B) is currently in storage at the l
licensee's Rochester Hills office.
I Region III dispatched an inspector to review the circumstances of this event.
The States of Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, and the NRC Office of Nuclear Materials safety and Safeguards have been notified. The information in this preliminary notification has been reviewed with licensee management and is current as of 11:00 a.m.
(CT), November 19, 1997.
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The-licensee notified the NRC Operations Center of this incident at approximately 5:00 p.m.
(EST) on November 16, 1997.
Contact:
Jamnes Cameron Debbie Piskura (708)829-9833 (708)829-9867 9901200006 971119 I
h1 97-093 PDRi O
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