The following information was provided by
Kansas Radiation Control Program via email:
Kansas Radiation Control Program was notified, at 1016 CST on December 30, 2022, that six tritium exit signs were disposed of inappropriately. A total of 17 tritium exit signs were removed from a church located in Topeka, Kansas, six signs were reported improperly disposed of with 11 remaining in the possession of the owner and later disposed of properly. The church had contracted with EMCOR to dispose of the signs and replace them with LED exit signs. The sub contractor, Mid-West Signs, reported they unintentionally disposed of six of the signs in the trash. Before this error was realized the trash was collected and the signs were determined unrecoverable. The signs were uninstalled on November 3, 2022; however it is unclear at this time when the signs might have been placed in the trash. This is an initial report and the incident is still open pending an investigation and management review.
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