On July 14, 2021, a technician left a job site unknowingly leaving a
Troxler gauge on the tailgate, which subsequently fell off. The project supervisor was informed of the incident at approximately 1445 EDT. A local business has still images of an individual in a truck picking up the
gauge on the side of the road and driving off. Local law enforcement was called, and an investigation is underway. The
Troxler gauge, model number 35/40, 25423, contained 8 mCi of
Cs-137 (serial number 75-8257) and 40 mCi of Am-241:BE (serial number 47-21754). The Transport Index is 0.6.
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