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| Start date | Reporting criterion | Title | Event description | System | LER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENS 42623 | 22 May 2006 09:00:00 | Agreement State | Agreement State Report - Abandonment of Well Logging Source | The State provided the following information via facsimile: (Pathfinder Energy Services (licensee) notified the State of LA that) during drilling operations on 17 May 2006 the drill string became stuck while making a connection. The hole had packed off around the drill string not allowing circulation, up and down movement or rotation of the drill pipe. All reasonable effort was used to attempt to free the drill string. (LADEQ Emergency & Radiological Services Division) was notified on 19 May 2006 that there might be a possibility of needing to abandon the sources over the weekend. He gave a verbal approval to abandon the sources and referred me (licensee) to (LADEQ) to follow up on Monday with the status of the abandonment. (LADEQ) was notified Monday 22 May 2006 that the sources were abandoned at 4:00 AM, 22 May 2006 and given details of the abandonment with the agreement that a formal report would be filed within 30 days of the abandonment. E-mail notification was also sent to Mr. Noble. It became apparent on Sunday 21 May 2006 that the drill string would be lost. A 370 foot cement plug was set above the sources. A total of 22 joints of HWDP (675 feet) were left on top of the radioactive sources to act as a mechanical deflection device to prevent inadvertent intrusion on the sources. A sidetrack well is planned to be drilled after 7 5/8" casing is set at 10,237' from the shoe to the original depth of 10,265 ft TVD. The sidetrack well is planned not to come within 15 ft of the sources. A liner (casing) will be set at completion of the bypass well and cemented in place. Description of Sources: One 1.5 Curie, Cs-137, Doubly Encapsulated, Special Form, Well Logging Sealed Source Serial Number, 5080GW AEAT Model CDC.CY6 One 8 Curie, Am-241/Be, Doubly Encapsulated, Special Form, Well Logging Sealed Source Serial Number: DNS 013 Gammatron Model AN-HP THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A "CATEGORY 3" LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL Category 3 sources, if not safely managed or securely protected, could cause permanent injury to a person who handled them, or were otherwise in contact with them, for some hours. It could possibly - although it is unlikely - be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period of days to weeks. These sources are typically used in practices such as fixed industrial gauges involving high activity sources (for example, level gauges, dredger gauges, conveyor gauges and spinning pipe gauges) and well logging. This source is not amongst those sources or devices identified by the IAEA Code of Conduct for the Safety & Security of Radioactive Sources to be of concern from a radiological standpoint. Therefore is it being categorized as a less than Category 3 source |