The following Agreement State Report was received via facsimile:
Event Description: The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control was notified by the licensee at 2:00 p.m. [EDT] on October 3, 2013, that a source on a gauging device would not retract into the holder as designed. This licensee also stated, 'steam is leaking from the top of the right hand side source holder where the pulley is. The source tube is welded to the vessel. At the present time the cable is stuck, so the source will not retract into the holder.
The [South Carolina] Department [of Health and Environmental Control] responded to this event and found that an Ohmart Model SHLM-C-2 fixed gauging device containing two 200 mCi Cs-137 sources (s/n 2667/2668) had incurred a failure of the shutter/retraction mechanism. There was no evidence of steam being released from the gauge housing but water was dripping very slowly from the top of the gauge housing. Surveys indicated background readings of 0.03 mR/hr as the source has now been locked in place in the vessel.
The area is roped off to prevent unauthorized access.
Vega Americas, Inc. is scheduled to perform repair of the shutter/retraction mechanism on October 8, 2013. Notifications and updates will be made through the
NMED system.