ENS 47963

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v t e ENS Event
05:00 May 25, 2012
Title	Agreement State Report - Uranium Source Found at Metal Check Recycling Facility
Event Description	On May 22, 2012 we [Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (OKDEQ)] were contacted by the Director of Radiology at INTEGRIS Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City. The Director informed us that an individual had presented at their Emergency Room complaining that he had been exposed to radiation at the Metal Check, Inc. scrap metal yard located at 5700 South High Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK. According to [the Director], the individual was a heavy equipment mechanic who had been sent to Metal Check to repair a piece of their equipment. While working there he was told by some of the Metal Check employees not to enter a certain part of the facility because it contained radioactive pipe. The mechanic immediately left Metal Check and went to the Medical Center. That afternoon [an inspector with OKDEQ] went to Metal Check and spoke with the owner and the manager. They agreed to allow [the inspector] to survey the pipe in question and showed [the inspector] the area where it was stored and where the mechanic was working. It appeared to [the inspector] that the pipe was located approximately 40 feet from where the equipment was being repaired, making it impossible for the mechanic to receive any significant dose from this material. [The manager] showed [the inspector] a small bin approximately six feet long by four feet high by four feet deep filled with miscellaneous pieces of scrap metal. The top of the bin was surveyed with a Ludlum Model 19 microR meter (S/N 70537, cal. Aug. 18, 2011) which produced a reading of approximately 1100 microR/hr. This was very high for NORM [naturally occurring radioactive material] pipe and [the inspector] also noted that the radiation level was not uniform along the length of the bin, having a definite spike approximately two feet from the left end. This led [the inspector] to conclude that there was a localized source somewhere in the bin at that point. [The inspector] then contacted [his supervisor] and related what [he] had found at the facility. [The inspector] suggested returning the next day with an additional person and additional instruments, and attempting to locate the postulated radiation source. The following morning [the inspector and an associate] returned to Metal Check and began to unload the bin. Almost immediately [they] found what appeared to be a badly corroded metal bucket which had been crushed around an object inside it. A survey of the object with the same Model 19 used the previous day produced a reading of 2.2 mR/hr on contact with the bucket. A Thermo Fisher Interceptor portable gamma spec was used to collect a gamma spectrum from the object, which the instrument identified as shielded Uranium. A second spectrum was collected through a hole in the bucket surrounding the object; this was identified as natural Uranium. A portion of the object was wiped through a hole in the bucket; analysis of the wipe by the DEQ Environmental Lab confirmed the presence of U-235 and U-238, and their daughters. The object was roughly disk-shaped, approximately 12 inches in diameter and one inch thick. One side had a second, smaller disk, approximately 10 inches in diameter, centered on the larger and approximately 2 inches thick. No markings or labels were visible. [The inspectors] estimate the weight of the object at approximately 40 lbs. Three pieces of NORM pipe were also found with high radiation levels (1 mR/hr). All four objects were removed from the bin which was then surveyed again, producing readings of approximately 300 to 400 microR/hr. Rachel Browder and Michelle Hammond of the NRC were informed of the situation later that day by phone. The uranium object was placed in a locked room at the Metal Check facility pending further guidance from NRC.

ENS 47963 +/-
Where
Unknown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (NRC Region 4)
License number:	N/A
Organization:	Ok Deq Rad Management
Reporting

Agreement State
Time - Person (Reporting Time:+6.53 h0.272 days <br />0.0389 weeks <br />0.00894 months <br />)
Opened:	Kevin Sampson 11:32 May 25, 2012
NRC Officer:	Howie Crouch
Last Updated:	May 25, 2012
47963 - NRC Website
v • d • e

v t e Emergency Notification System
Unknown with Agreement State
WEEKMONTHYEAR2022-10-05T04:00:00 [Table view]
[ENS list for Unknown]

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