ENS 44535
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
18:00 Sep 29, 2008 | |
| Title | Agreement State Report - Potential Overexposure To Extremities |
| Event Description | A radiographer working for METCO was performing radiography operations at CB & I Fabricators in Houston TX. He was moving the radiography camera (a SPEC 150 with a 85 curie Ir-192 source) from one location to another. He removed the nipple off the front of the camera to test the guide tube and his dosimetry started alarming. He observed that the source had come out of the camera about 1/2 inch. At the same time, he inadvertently dropped the camera plug. He picked up the plug and unsuccessfully made two attempts to push the source back in with the plug. He then left the front of the camera and went around and turned the crank and got the source back into the shielded position and then inserted the plug. He then notified appropriate personnel.
METCO sent his dosimetry off and the results came back with a whole body exposure of 946 millirem on October 1. The RSO discussed the details of the event with the radiographer and reenacted the event to attempt to estimate the radiographer's hand exposure because to the close proximity of the source to the hand during the event. Based on the time and distance of the source to the hand, it was estimated that the exposure to the radiographer's right hand may be somewhere between 66 and 282 rem. METCO has called in a consultant to get a more accurate assessment of the exposure to the hand. The radiographer's work for the rest of the year has been suspended. His hand does not exhibit any eurythemia. No information is available on whether blood work or medical study will be obtained. Texas will wait for the licensee's final report before it completes and independent investigation of the event. Texas Report I-8569
The following information was received from the State of Texas via email: The licensee provided the final dose estimate for the individual involved in this event. The licensee used conservative times established in several reenactments of the event, NCRP publications, and the source manufacturers information to calculate the dose estimate. The estimate to the individual's right hand is 233.71 Rem SDE. The State of Texas calculated the dose to be 235.65 Rem SDE. This individual's TEDE dose was measured at 2.762 Rem for the 2008 calendar year. Notified FSME (Burgess) and R4DO (Deese). |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Metco Houston, Texas (NRC Region 4) | |
| License number: | L-03018 |
| Organization: | Texas Department Of Health |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+88.97 h3.707 days <br />0.53 weeks <br />0.122 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Art Tucker 10:58 Oct 3, 2008 |
| NRC Officer: | Bill Huffman |
| Last Updated: | Oct 21, 2008 |
| 44535 - NRC Website | |
Metco with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 500942014-05-07T03:00:0007 May 2014 03:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Radiography Source Tube Crimped Preventing Source Retraction ENS 489672013-04-23T05:00:00023 April 2013 05:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report - Failure of Radiography Source to Fully Retract ENS 484202012-10-17T05:00:00017 October 2012 05:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report- Unable to Retract Radiography Camera Source ENS 476762012-02-17T06:00:00017 February 2012 06:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report Involving Potential Radiographer Overexposure ENS 473392011-10-10T12:00:00010 October 2011 12:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report - Misalignment in the Crankout Device ENS 468342011-04-19T05:00:00019 April 2011 05:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report - Stuck Radiography Camera Source ENS 451442009-06-10T07:35:00010 June 2009 07:35:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report - Unable to Retract Radiography Source ENS 445352008-09-29T18:00:00029 September 2008 18:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report - Potential Overexposure to Extremities ENS 449592008-01-28T05:00:00028 January 2008 05:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report - Radiography Camera Malfuntion ENS 449632008-01-05T05:00:0005 January 2008 05:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report- Radiography Camera Malfunction ENS 449612007-10-18T05:00:00018 October 2007 05:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report - Inability to Retract Radiography Source ENS 436442007-09-15T03:00:00015 September 2007 03:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report Involving Potential Overexposures During Industrial Radiography ENS 434112007-05-08T05:00:0008 May 2007 05:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report Involving Equipment Failure of Radiography Camera 2014-05-07T03:00:00 | |