The following information was excerpted from a report received from the State of
Georgia via email:
On Wednesday, November 9th, it was reported to the Department [Georgia Radioactive Materials Program] by Theragenics Corporation in Buford, GA that an employee's dosimetry report indicated that she had exceeded the annual whole body dose limit of 5000 mRem. An investigation has been conducted by the employer and no possible explanation has been found as of yet. Our office has an ongoing investigation and further details will be provided as we receive them.
[The licensee reports receiving] notification from their dosimetry processor, on October 12, an individual received a whole body dose of 5,215 mRem. [The licensee] spent the last month trying to recreate a situation that could have exposed this worker to a dose of this magnitude and can't make it happen. According to discussions, with the worker, she never left her dosimetry in a lab where it could have been exposed to an unshielded source of radiation. According to her supervisor, team leads in the lab in which she worked, and HP [Health Physics], she is a very good radiation worker and, there is never anything out of the normal at her work station.
[The worker] did take her whole body dosimeter and both finger rings home with her one evening. Even more baffling is her ring dose is less than 200 mRem. [The licensee has] tried to recreate that scenario of taking the dosimeters home as well and have not had a dosimeter come back from processing that is above its minimal level of detection.
It is [licensee's] interpretation of [the CFR,] Reportable Events, that this report of an
overexposure is due to [the State of Georgia] 30 days after notification, or Friday, 11/11/16. [The licensee is] waiting on additional information [from the dosimetry processor] prior to report submittal.