The following information was provided by the
New York State Department of Health
Bureau of Environmental Radiation Protection (
NYSDOH BERP) via fax:
On November 3, 2022, at approximately 1430 EDT, an authorized user for the licensee had finished conducting soils testing at a temporary job site located in Manhasset, NY and locked the moisture density device in the carrying case within the trunk of their vehicle. The authorized user was conducting concrete work while the gauge was locked in the trunk and returned to their vehicle later to find that the vehicle was stolen, with the gauge locked in the trunk. The authorized user contacted the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) and Nassau Police immediately and the case was initiated by Nassau [Police] to track this vehicle. The RSO contacted NYSDOH BERP the following morning to report the missing device.
The following, information is available on this device: Make/Model: Troxler 3430 Source 1: Cs-137 (10 millicurie); Source 2: Americium-241:Be (40 millicurie); Device S/N: 20136.
New York State Department of Health is reaching out to the manufacturer and neighboring regulators to inform them of this event. NYSDOH will continue to monitor this event and provide updates as necessary.
NY Event Report ID: NYDOH-22-07
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