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Start date | Reporting criterion | Title | Event description | System | LER | |
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ENS 44113 | 31 March 2008 20:30:00 | Agreement State | Agreement State Report - Stolen Moisture Density Gauge | The following information was received from the State of Arkansas via email (quotations omitted for readability): The Arkansas Department of Health, Radioactive Materials Program, is reporting that one of their licensees, Tigue Construction Company, Inc., has a Troxler moisture/density gauge that is stolen/missing from a pickup truck some time during the day in or near Brinkley, Arkansas. The licensee became aware of the missing gauge at 15:30 on March 31, 2008 after loading the gauge in the truck at the office in Glenwood, Arkansas that morning. The licensee has stated that the gauge, transport case and chains are missing. The licensee made one stop in Little Rock and observed that gauge in the truck during that stop. The licensee has filed a police report with the Brinkley Police Department. The Troxler gauge is a Model 3440, S/N 27381, and contains 40 milliCuries of Am-241:Be and 8 milliCuries of Cesium-137. The Arkansas Department of Health prepared a press release on the event. The licensee verbally indicated that the gauge was properly secured in the truck at the time. The Arkansas Department of Health is investigating the circumstances surrounding this event. Arkansas Department of Health notified Brinkley Police Department, Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (Arkansas State Police, Arkansas Highway Patrol), State of Mississippi, State of Tennessee (and) NRC Region IV. Arkansas has assigned Event Report ID No: AR-03-08-01
On April 17, 2008, the stolen Troxler Model 3440, Serial Number 27381, belonging to Tigue Construction, Inc., was retrieved from the Van Buren County Courthouse in Clinton, AR. The gauge had been found in a ditch, by a citizen, approximately 2 weeks prior to April 17, 2008, and retrieved by the County Emergency Management Staff. Due to significant storms and flooding in the county the notification to Arkansas Dept. of Health was delayed. The gauge and transport case were found without any locks. It is unclear how the gauge arrived in Clinton, AR. After being stolen in Brinkley, AR. The distance is 140 miles. Health Physicists from the Arkansas Department of Health retrieved the gauge and stored it in the Department's Radioactive Material storage area. Field analysis indicated the gauge was not leaking. On April 21, 2008, a representative from Tigue Construction, Inc., retrieved the gauge from the Arkansas Department of Health and will conduct a leak test prior to returning the gauge to service. The Department considers this event closed. R4DO (Cain), FSME (Zelac) and ILTAB (via e-mail) were notified. 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. |