The
RSO (Irene Sakimoto) for the licensee notified us that while conducting an experiment on a boat at sea (22 degrees 43.48 N and 158 degrees 4.77 W) a sealed source of
C-14 (1.8 milliCi) was attached to a line and lowered into the ocean to a depth of 4800 meters. The line became ensnared in the propeller and broke. The sample fell to the bottom of the ocean. The licensee will not be making efforts to retrieve this sealed source.
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.