ENS 46010
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
05:00 May 20, 2010 | |
| Title | Texas Agreement State Report - Two Tritium Exit Signs Missing |
| Event Description | The following information was received via e-mail from the State of Texas Radiation Branch:
On June 15, 2010, the Agency received a letter from a company operating under a General License in the State of Texas. [While] conducting an inventory of tritium (H-3) exit signs used at their facilities, they found that two signs containing 10 curies each of H-3 were missing from a facility in Hewitt, Texas. The signs were manufactured by SRB Technologies, Inc., Model BetaLux-E. A search of the facility was conducted and interview with the individuals working at the facility were held. The interviews did not provide any information on the location or disposition of the signs. The company is removing all exit signs containing tritium and returning them to the manufacturer to prevent a reoccurrence of the event. Additional information has been requested by this Agency and will be provided when received. TX Incident # I-8754
The company provided the following information [to the Texas Radiation Branch] during a phone conversation. The signs were found to be missing on May 20, 2010. The loss was reported to the Health and Safety Group (HSG) on May 25,2010. The HSG Group incorrectly interpreted the reporting criteria for this event and believed that it only required a 30 day written report. The HSG manager stated that they would change their procedure to insure any future required reports would be done on time. R4DO (Powers) and FSME (McIntosh) notified. 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 This source is not amongst those sources or devices identified by the IAEA Code of Conduct for the Safety & Security of Radioactive Sources to be of concern from a radiological standpoint. Therefore is it being categorized as a less than Category 3 source |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Shaw Hewitt, Texas (NRC Region 4) | |
| License number: | GENERAL |
| Organization: | Texas Department Of Health |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+631.5 h26.313 days <br />3.759 weeks <br />0.865 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Art Tucker 12:30 Jun 15, 2010 |
| NRC Officer: | Bill Huffman |
| Last Updated: | Jun 15, 2010 |
| 46010 - NRC Website | |
Shaw with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 460102010-05-20T05:00:00020 May 2010 05:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Texas Agreement State Report - Two Tritium Exit Signs Missing 2010-05-20T05:00:00 | |