ENS Event | |
|---|---|
07:00 Aug 29, 2011 | |
| Title | Agreement State - Lost Gadolinium Camera Sources |
| Event Description | The following report was received via facsimile.
The (New Jersey) (Bureau of Emergency Response) BER received a call from the (Radiation Safety Officer) RSO at Trinitas Hospital at 1500 (EDT) on Monday August 29, 2011. This past Friday, while performing an inventory of their sealed sources, it was discovered that two (Gadolinium) Gd-153 camera sources were missing. These sources were dated March 2002, with an initial activity of 250 mCi apiece. (The half-life of Gd-153 is 241 days, therefore each source had decayed to ~0.01 mCi). The RSO stated that these sources were never used on the camera, and had been in storage since 2002. During the last routine inventory (July 2011) the sources were accounted for. Friday's inventory was being conducted as a result of a recent cleanup of the storage area. The RSO indicated that hospital staff conducted thorough searches of the hospital on Friday, as well as over the weekend, but have not found the sources. It was also indicated that the chief nuclear medicine technologist, who was involved in the cleanup, is currently overseas until September 7. When he returns, the RSO will discuss with him to see if he has knowledge of the location of these sources. The search and investigation is still ongoing. 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 |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Trinitas Hospital Elizabeth, New Jersey (NRC Region 1) | |
| License number: | 332163 |
| Organization: | New Jersey Dept Of Environment Prot |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+28.15 h1.173 days <br />0.168 weeks <br />0.0386 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Cathy Biel 11:09 Aug 30, 2011 |
| NRC Officer: | John Shoemaker |
| Last Updated: | Aug 30, 2011 |
| 47218 - NRC Website | |
Trinitas Hospital with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 472182011-08-29T07:00:00029 August 2011 07:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State - Lost Gadolinium Camera Sources 2011-08-29T07:00:00 | |