ENS 51420
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
04:00 Sep 2, 2015 | |
| Title | Agreement State Report - Lost Portable Moisture/Density Gauge |
| Event Description | The following report was received from the Commonwealth of Virginia via email:
On September 22nd at 1749 EDT. [The Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health] received a call from the Virginia Emergency Operations Center, stating that the RSO [Radiation Safety Officer] from WRA [the licensee, Whitman, Requardt & Associates] was calling to report a missing gauge. [Virginia Department of Health] contacted the [licensee's] RSO who then informed [Virginia Department of Health] that one of their gauges was lost in shipment. [Virginia Department of Health] requested the RSO send an email detailing the event. On August 12th, WRA shipped a Troxler 3411B gauge (S/N: 5374), containing 9 mCi of Cs-137 and 44 mCi of Am-241, to Northeast Technical Services (NETS) for calibration. On September 1st, WRA was contacted by NETS that the calibration was completed and the gauge was being shipped back. On September 15th, WRA contacted NETS to say they had not received the gauge. On September 22nd, NETS contacted WRA to inform them that [the common shipper] was unable to locate the gauge and considered it to be unlikely recovered. NETS supplied [Virginia Department of Health] with the tracking number which indicated the gauge was picked up on September 1st, sent to the York, PA facility, then the Greencastle, PA facility. The results then say on September 2nd, the gauge was sent to the Winchester, VA facility and unloaded. On September 23rd, [Virginia Department of Health] contacted the [common shipper's] facility in Winchester, VA and spoke with the site manager. The manager stated that the gauge was not on the truck when it arrived at this facility on September 2nd, and that an 'All Points Bulletin' (APB) was submitted. [Virginia Department of Health] then contacted the Greencastle, PA facility and spoke to the OS&D/Customer Service Representative regarding the loss of this gauge. [Virginia Department of Health] discussed what actions had been taken to locate the gauge and supplied them with an email containing pictures of the transportation case and the gauge. At 1458 EDT on September 23rd, an APB from the Greencastle, PA facility was created and submitted to [the common shipper's] staff. They have checked the truck that was used on September 1st, and the gauge was not found in the truck. They are speaking with the driver of this truck and showing him pictures of the gauge and case. Currently, [the common shipper] is looking through the Greencastle, PA facility and contacting the Pittsburgh, PA facility regarding the gauge. The Greencastle OS&D/Customer Service Representative stated they will provide daily updates regarding the search. The Pennsylvania RMP [Radioactive Materials Program] has been notified and made aware of this event. The Virginia RMP will provide updates as they become available. There is no public health or safety impact at this time. Commonwealth of Virginia Event Report ID No.: VA-15-11
On September 24th, it was discovered that the portable gauge was delivered to another Virginia licensee who also had sent a portable gauge to NETS for service. The gauge was returned to [common carrier] who is shipping it back to NETS to inspect. The gauge will then be sent to WRA. The investigation at [Common Carrier] is on-going with regards to how it was delivered to the wrong licensee. Notified R1DO (Welling). Notified ILTAB (Johnson) and NMSS_Events_Notification via email. 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. |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Whiteman, Requardt & Associates (Wra) Llp Lynchburg, Virginia (NRC Region 1) | |
| License number: | 680-572-1 |
| Organization: | Virginia Rad Materials Program |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+515.98 h21.499 days <br />3.071 weeks <br />0.707 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Mike Welling 15:59 Sep 23, 2015 |
| NRC Officer: | John Shoemaker |
| Last Updated: | Sep 24, 2015 |
| 51420 - NRC Website | |
Whiteman, Requardt & Associates (Wra) Llp with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 514202015-09-02T04:00:0002 September 2015 04:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State Report - Lost Portable Moisture/Density Gauge 2015-09-02T04:00:00 | |