Semantic search
| Entered date | Event description | |
|---|---|---|
| ENS 48675 | 15 January 2013 17:54:00 | An item was processed for shipment (from Norfolk, VA) to the manufacturer for repair and was delivered to a contracted carrier on 9 January 2013. The carrier notified the government representative on Monday, 14 January 2013, reporting that the subject material was involved in a police investigation for a potential theft in Riverside, CA. The government contractor reported the loss of freight to the depot who reported the incident to the DLA (Defense Logistics Agency) Distribution Radiation Safety Officer at 1503 hrs on 15 January 2013. DLA Distribution (Norfolk, VA) will work with all parties to obtain further information related to this incident and update the NRC as information becomes available. The shipped item is a pressure indicator (NSN#6620-01-125-8904) containing a Sr-90 source (500 microCuries). DLA Incident Number: 2013-DLA-001 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. For additional information go to http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf |
| ENS 46651 | 2 March 2011 15:20:00 | As part of a mass turn in of Chemical Detection Equipment (CDE) containing radioactive sources, an Air Force (AF) unit located in Fort Leonard Wood, MO. reported that it had shipped 52 CDE systems, each containing Ni-63 with 20 milli Curie sources, to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Distribution Center at Red River Texas. The CDE systems were shipped in 7 separate packages and confirmation of 7 separate packages was provided which showed the receipt by DLA on 21 May 2010. An inventory, conducted on 2 February 2011, of the 7 packages at the DLA Distribution Center could only account for 40 of the 52 CDE systems. The AF Radiation Safety Office contacted the DLA Radiation Safety Office indicating that there was a discrepancy in the number of items receipted compared to the number of items identified as shipped by the unit. The AF Radiation Safety Office provided the list of serial numbers for the 52 items reportedly shipped which were compared to the current inventory on hand. It was confirmed that there were 12 serial numbers identified on the shipping list that were not in the current inventory. An initial search of the designated Radioactive Material Storage area did not locate the items. It has been identified that a major issue with the turn-in process was the lack of prior notification of transfer of the CDE from the AF units to the DLA Distribution Site at Red River. A global instruction was provided by the AF PM to ship the material, without the PM providing the turn-in documents. Had the AF PM directed all of the shipment, a document would have been generated and the number of items to be shipped would have been provided to the depot. In the current process, the depot could only act reactively based on available material and paperwork. The transfer of CDE systems to the DLA Distribution Centers has been suspended until a more accountable process can be determined. Additionally the AF will, in the future, direct all shipments directly to Wright Patterson AFB for demilitarization and disposal. A continued effort to search the hazardous material warehouses for these items will continue.
DLA Distribution is retracting the initial report of potential loss (Event # 46651) as the 12 Chemical Agent Detectors have been accounted for at Pine Bluff Arsenal, another Department of Defense facility and the ultimate destruction site. The materiel was shipped from DLA Distribution Red River to Pine Bluff Arsenal on October 8, 2010, under a different NSN (National Stock Number) than the one originally sent to DLA. The Chemical Agent Detection (CDE) Equipment can be in multiple configurations, each with their own NSN. In this case they shipped from the AF unit under one NSN (entire detection system) and we subsequently shipped under a corrected NSN (detector component only). Notified R1DO(Hansell), R4DO(Farnholtz), FSME(Reis), Mexico, and ILTAB via e-mail. 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. For additional information go to http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf 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 |
| ENS 45444 | 19 October 2009 10:13:00 | While conducting the Annual Radioactive Inventory (of pressure indicators), a discrepancy was noted in the on-hand balance of the subject NIIN (National Item Identification Number). The current electronic inventory balance was 138 ea, but a physical check of the location could only locate 136 for a shortage of 2 ea. An initial search of the Radioactive Materiel Storage Area did not locate the item. The Service Provider and Continuing Government Activity personnel will begin a review of all transaction since the last reconciled inventory in an attempt to identify potential transaction errors. The pressure indicator in its shipping container is authorized to ship as an expected package with an external dose rate of less than 0.5 mrem /hr on contact. The pressure indicators contained 500 microcuries of Sr-90.
The inventory items that were previously thought to be lost or stolen were subsequently located during a more comprehensive search of the warehouse. A number of potential process weaknesses lead to the initial report of the inventory discrepancy. While available, handheld Radiofrequency transmitters were not used for all transactions, causing delay in inventory balance updates (issues and re-warehousing not immediately accounted for), (and) similar packaging were found to contain either one or two items per packaging. DDC Inventory Control (licensee) canceled the current electronic inventory, processed all open transactions and ran an updated inventory. Physical inventory and verification of serial numbers accounted for all sources identified in electronic inventory system. Hand-held Radiofrequency devices will be used in the future for all inventory transactions to alleviate delay in transaction processing. Also, items were repackaged to ensure that only one device was in each package. Notified R1DO (Barkley), R4DO (Hay), FSME EO (White) and Mexico via fax. 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. For additional information go to http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf 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 |
| ENS 44235 | 22 May 2008 15:07:00 | Two Laser receiver/transmitters were picked from stock for delivery to the Robins AFB Maintenance program. The two items were picked up from location and manifested for local delivery on 21 February 2008. The items were reported missing on customer complaint by the Avionics Repair shop on 11 March 2008. The item was originally marked as missing in the Automated Tracking System on 27 March 2008. Recent extensive searches have not discovered the missing items. Based on preliminary investigation, the items were manifested for delivery, but the local delivery truck did not show on the day it was ordered. The material remained in the Radioactive Material Shipping area for a couple of days. A hand-receipt transfer document was located but it did not have the driver's signature of receipt. Additionally, the transition of new personnel delayed the reporting of the loss to the DDC Radiation Safety Office. DDC Radiation Safety Office will work closely with the local Radiation Protection Officer to provide training to emphasis the requirements for timely reporting of incidents involving radioactive material. INCIDENT NO: DDWG-2008-01 Item NSN: 1270-01-365-9471 containing two 8 microCuries Am-241 sources (16 microCuries total).
Upon investigation of this event it was determined that the licensee is Defense Logistic Agency and not the US Air force. The header of the report has been changed accordingly. Notified the R1DO (Rogge) and FSME EO (Bubar) 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 |
| ENS 42786 | 18 August 2006 15:25:00 | An inventory of the tritium sources at the Defense Logistics Agency in Aniston, AL was performed. Initial results of Annual Inventory indicates a loss of the following items: 4 ea NSN 1240001508886 Telescopic panoramic at 3.8 Curies each 5 ea NSN 1240001508890 Mount Telescope at 0.15 Curies each 2 ea NSN 1240003321780 Collimator at 10 Curies each Causative research is currently being conducted and results will be reported in follow up letter to NRC. Total loss would equal 35.95 Curies of H3. The last annual inventory was completed 10/11/2005.
The Defense Distribution Center Depot has accounted for all items previously reported as being missing. The items were located in a proper radiological storage area. However, they were not located in the same area as the licensee had documented in their computer system. After performing a full inspection of the radiological storage area, the items were accounted for and properly documented in a report issued 9/28/06. Notified R1DO(Krohn) and NMSS(Burgess) 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. |
| ENS 40127 | 2 September 2003 19:11:00 | A U.S. Army Chemical Agent Alarm (SN #Z03-D-17464, Source # Z03-C-17468) has been reported missing from its unit, normally stationed in Fort Lee, Virginia. This device was sited before it was deployed overseas with the 319th Engineer Company in Kuwait. Upon its unit's return, the alarm could not be located. The device contains an Americium-241 source (300 microcuries). This alarm is used for perimeter warning of chemical attack. The U.S. Army is investigating as to the whereabouts of this device. Any findings made will be reported as updates to this event report. |