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 Start dateReporting criterionTitleEvent descriptionSystemLER
ENS 4495016 March 2009 05:00:0010 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(ii)Loss of 30 Millicuries of Technicium-99MA loss of permitted material by VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System at Nashville, Tennessee, occurred on March 16, 2009. The loss involved a unit dosage of 30 millicuries of Technicium-99m, in the form of a liquid radiopharmaceutical used for cardiac stress tests. Efforts were undertaken to find the lost dosage but were unsuccessful. As corrective action, the permittee (VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System) has performed an in-service on the security of radioactive materials with its nuclear medicine technologists. The in-service emphasized that radioactive materials must be controlled through direct supervision/attention or be locked in a secure area at all times. VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System Permit No. 41-00104-04 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. 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