The following information was received from the State of
Florida Bureau of Radiation Control via facsimile:
Licensee discovered 51 I-125 brachytherapy seeds missing on 13 April 2010. Initial notification to the state was on 16 April 2010, after working hours, to the [State of Florida] duty officer. A search of the premises and outside garbage containers was performed [with negative results]. The search is still on going. Investigation [of this incident has been] assigned to [the State of Florida Bureau of Radiation Control] Miami Office.
Florida Incident #: FL10-056
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