The State of
Kansas was notified that an Electron Capture Detector Gas Chromatograph (ECD-GC) owned by Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem) was inadvertently disposed of as electronic waste. The contracted waste company, Clean Harbors Wichita, ships waste to the recycler,
ERI, in Fresno, CA. OxyChem provided
ERI pictures of the missing Varian
ECD GC to aid in identification.
The missing ECD-GC is a model 3400 (Serial Number A-8080), containing 8 mCi Ni-63 as of 1990. The current activity is calculated as 6.58 mCi.
The State of Kansas is providing a courtesy notification to the State of California Radiation Program Office.
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