The following information was received from the State of
Florida via email:
During a routine inspection, a Co-57 flood source was determined to be missing. Source was accounted for on 18 Aug 11. [A state] inspector surveyed the area and could not locate the source. Licensee believes the source may be at a doctor's office; they will continue to look for it and will notify us [Florida Bureau of Radiation Control] if found. Any further action is referred to [Florida Bureau of Radiation Control] Radioactive Materials [Branch].
The Co-57 source strength was reported as 414 microcuries.
FL Incident Number: FL11-081
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
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