The licensee reported that one of their employees placed two
tritium exit signs in a trash compactor at one of their stores and compacted them. The licensee has tagged out the affected trash compactor and notified representatives of the Commonwealth of
Virginia and Region I. The signs are approximately 11.5 Curies each. The Commonwealth is sending representatives to evaluate the radiological condition and assist in the removal and disposal of the devices.
The licensee notified Region 1(Joustra).
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.
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