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| Start date | Reporting criterion | Title | Event description | System | LER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENS 47068 | 14 July 2011 17:00:00 | Agreement State | Agreement State - Source Discovered in Scrap Shipment - Two Others Still Missing | On Thursday July 14 a scrap dealer contacted the Virginia Radioactive Materials Program (VRMP) indicating a load of steel had set off their alarm. The scrap yard was able to identify the material that set off the alarm and isolate. On Friday July 15 VRMP staff went to the scrap yard to perform surveys and identify the material in question. The investigation determined that the material had come from the demolishing site of Dan River, Inc, a former textile business that closed in 2008. The gauge was determined to contain Kr-85 utilizing a radionuclide identifier and the GL database, which lists three Mahlo Controls Kr-85 gauges being possessed by Dan River, Inc. The VRMP continues to work with the scrap yard and demolishing company looking for the other two gauges. VRMP is also working with Mahlo Controls in researching the three gauges in question. The sources in these generally licensed devices were originally 100 milliCuries each. It is estimated that they have decayed three half-lives and the current strength is estimated at approximately 13 milliCuries each. 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 |