The following information was provided by the
North Dakota Department of Health (the Department) via email:
On February 28, 2024, EMCOR Facilities Services, Inc. reported that nine (9) single-face tritium exit signs belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were removed and improperly disposed of by an electrical subcontractor (Feininger Electric Works). The make, model, and serial numbers of these tritium exit signs are unknown.
North American Signs was contracted by EMCOR Facilities Services, Inc. on November 02, 2023 to complete the scope of work on behalf of the Church. In turn, North American Signs subcontracted the work to be completed by Feininger Electric Works.
North American Signs informed EMCOR Facilities Services, Inc. on February 6, 2024, that a Feininger Electric Works technician mistakenly discarded 9 tritium exit signs before they could be catalogued, packed, and shipped out for proper disposal. The signs were presumably collected from a general waste receptacle and could not be recovered.
The Department is attempting to gather more specific information from the entities involved. Typically, each of these signs initially contain tritium in amounts greater than one (1) curie. As such, we are reporting this event under 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(i).
NMED Event Number: ND240001
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