The following information was provided by the
Texas Department of State Health Services via email:
On September 4, 2025, the licensee reported that one of its technicians lost a Troxler 3440 moisture/density gauge. The gauge contains a 40 millicurie Am-241 source and a 10 millicurie Cs-137 source. The radiation safety officer (RSO) stated the gauge was being used at a field site.
The technician needed to go to the bathroom and placed the gauge into its transport case. The technician locked the transport case, placed it into the back of the truck, and put a locking cable through one of the transport case handles. The technician left the area and, when he arrived at the convenience store, he found the tail gate down and the case and gauge missing. The cable that was through the handle was still secured to the truck and through the case handle, but the handle had been pulled off the case. The technician contacted the RSO and informed him that the gauge was missing.
The RSO stated the technician and a manager had looked for the gauge. They handed out cards with their contact information to the workers at the job site and contacted local law enforcement. The licensee does not believe any individual would receive any significant exposure due to this event.
Additional information will be provided as it is received in accordance with SA-300.
TX incident #: 10224
TX NMED # TX250042
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