The following information was obtained from the state of
Texas via email:
On April 30, 2018, the licensee reported that sometime during the overnight hours of April 28-29, 2018, a Humboldt model 5001 moisture density gauge had been stolen from the back of a company vehicle. The licensee's technician had taken the vehicle with gauge home [to Arlington, TX], contrary to company policy, and had left the gauge chained with locks in the truck. The source rod handle was locked with a padlock. At 0530 [CDT] on April 29th, he discovered the chains had been cut and the gauge stolen. Local law enforcement was notified and the licensee has checked the surrounding area. The licensee will begin checking local pawn shops. More information will be provided as it is obtained in accordance with SA-300.
Device: Humboldt Model 5001 - SN: 2821
Sources: Americium-241 - 40 milliCuries - SN: 0379CX; Cesium-137 - 10 milliCuries - SN: NJ-04061
TX Incident #: 9566
- * * UPDATE ON 5/2/2018 AT 1452 EDT FROM KAREN BLANCHARD TO DONG PARK * * *
The following was received via e-mail:
This gauge was recovered today and is being returned to the licensee.
Notified R4DO (Azua), ILTAB, NMSS Events Notification, and Mexico 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