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| Start date | Reporting criterion | Title | Event description | System | LER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENS 42731 | 26 July 2006 21:05:00 | Agreement State | Agreement State Report - Damaged Moisture Density Gauge | The State provided the following information via facsimile: At approximately 2 P.M., the licensee called the Department to report that one of their moisture density gauges (CPN model MC3, serial # M39099115) had been run over by a large truck at approximately 12:20 P.M. earlier in the day. This happened when the gauge user had his back turned from the gauge and he was standing approximately 15-20 feet from the gauge. The gauge source rod (Cs-137) was in the shielded position at the time. The housing was severely damaged and the source rod handle was broken off near the weld joint where the source rod attaches to the source capsule. Both the 8 mCi Cs-137 and the 50 mCi Am-241:Be sources remained in their shielded positions as determined by subsequent surveys. The incident happened at a Cal Trans job in Santa Paula, CA on Highway 150 at the 28.12 mile marker. The Cal Trans supervisor immediately shut the job down and sent all of the workers home. The area where the gauge was located was secured and roped off until the sources were verified to still be in the gauge. The gauge and the broken gauge handle was transported back to the Santa Clarita storage location where a representative from RHB performed the survey to verify that the sources were in the gauge and in their shielded positions. The gauge will be transported to local CPN service representative , Maurer Technical Services in Laguna Hills, where they will do leak tests on the gauge. | ||
| ENS 42172 | 28 November 2005 15:22:00 | Agreement State | Agreement State Report Involving a Stolen Nuclear Gauge | At 0830 on November 28, 2005, RHB-Brea received a call from the licensee that one of their gauges (CPN, MC1-DRP, #MD20306488 containing 10 mCi Cs-137 and 50 mCi Am-241:Be) was stolen out of their construction trailer that was located at a temporary job site (KB Homes - "The Cove" construction site, located at the corner of Warren Road and Cottonwood in San Jacinto, CA). Three of the four construction trailers at this job site had been broken into over the same time period - the security metal plates (covering the locks to the doors) had all been pried open and the locks to the doors were cut off and were removed from the site. The theft occurred sometime between 1130 on November 23, 2005 (when the gauge user secured the gauge inside the construction trailer) and 0722 on November 28, 2005 (when the gauge user returned to the job site and discovered the theft). The last leak test for this gauge was performed on January 4, 2005 and was negative for removable contamination. The licensee contacted the San Jacinto Police Department to report the theft. They will also post a $1000 reward for the gauge in the local paper. CA NMED #: XCA-824
The gauge was located about a week ago and returned to the owner Leighton and Associates. The gauge was not damaged. A leak test was performed and the results are pending. Local law enforcement are still investigating. Notified R4DO (Whitten), NMSS EO (Flanders), emailed to ILTAB and Mexico. 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. |