The following information was provided by the
Minnesota Department of Health (
MDH) via email:
The MDH was notified on 1/12/2024, by PPL Group LLC, a representative for ERP Iron Ore, LLC Plant 2, of a missing/lost fixed gauge from the licensee's location listed above. PPL Group LLC contracted a waste broker to dispose of the registered generally licensed devices located at the plant. The completed inventory indicates that one device is missing. The missing device is a Berthold model LB74400-CR, serial number 0240/12 containing a 50 mCi Cs-137 source (assay date of 3/20/2014).
MDH will do an inspection next week and will continue to keep the NRC informed of the status of our investigation.
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