A B-52 bomber crashed shortly after take-off at Andersen
AF base in Guam at 0830 local time (2230 GMT, Wednesday, 18 May 2016). The B-52 had a Sniper Pod which contained 12 microcuries of
Am-241. So far the safety team could not locate the Sniper Pod at the incident spot.
The value for Am-241 listed in Appendix C to [10 CFR] Part 20 is 0.001 microcuries. Each Sniper Pod carries 12 microcuries of Am-241. Hence, we [USAF] reported the incident to the NRC Operations Center in accordance with 10 CFR 20.2201. We will provide you [NRC with a written] incident report within 30 days.
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