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| Start date | Reporting criterion | Title | Event description | System | LER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENS 51857 | 7 April 2016 07:00:00 | Agreement State | Agreement State Report - Damaged Moisture Density Gauge | The following report was received from the State of California via email: On April 7, 2016, (the licensee gauge operator) for Geo-Advantec, Inc., contacted the California Office of Emergency Services to report a moisture density gauge, a CPN Model MC3 Elite (10 mCi Cs-137, 50 mCi Am:Be-241, S/N30625), was run over by an unknown type of vehicle. The incident occurred at 2003 Speyer Lane, Redondo Beach, CA. After taking the report, the report was forwarded to the Los Angeles County Radiation Management which was then forwarded to Brea office of Radiologic Health Branch (RHB). (The licensee gauge operator) was contacted by a RHB inspector and stated that the gauge had been run over and that the source rod had been broken. He was also asked if the Cs-137 source had been exposed, and he stated that he was taking a standard count and that the source was in the shielded position at the time of the incident. (The licensee gauge operator) was then asked to take pictures of the gauge so that it could be evaluated to determine if the sources were still intact and to determine the extent of the damage to the gauge. The pictures indicated that the source rod was broken approximately 1-2 inches below the bottom of the guide tube, which had broken off the source shield, and that the rest of the source rod appeared to be inside the opening on the top part of the source shield. The Am:Be-241 source appeared to be intact and still attached to the body of gauge. (The licensee gauge operator) was instructed to place the body of the gauge into the transport case in its normal position and then place the rest of the pieces of the gauge into the case. He was also instructed to lock the case and secure it into the transport vehicle as normal. He was then instructed to check ground below the gauge to verify that the source was not exposed during the incident. After (the licensee gauge operator) verified that there were no signs of the source having been extended during the incident, he was instructed to mark the area where the gauge was damaged to ensure that area could be found if a survey was needed and then he was allowed to transport the gauge to Maurer Technical Services (MTS) to be inspected and surveyed to ensure the sources were still in the gauge and to verify they were intact. When the gauge arrived at Maurer Technical Services, a survey was performed by the MTS RSO (Radiation Safety Officer) (meter type not reported). The gauge had contact reading of 8.5 mR/hr, which was consistent with a CPN MC3 moisture/density gauge with both sources in their shielded positon. The RSO also took swipes of the device, the hands of the operator and the trunk of the operator's car. An RHB inspector arrived at MTS to perform a count of the swipes with a Ludlum general purpose meter and a 44-9 Geiger-Mueller probe and found all of the swipes were at background, indicating that there was not leakage and the sources were intact. The gauge will be stored at MTS until disposal of the gauge can be arranged. The investigation is on-going and any citations will be determined at a later date. CA 5010 # 040716. |