The following was received from the state of
Texas (the Agency) by email:
On October 1, 2020, the Agency was notified by the licensee's radiation safety officer (RSO) that a Troxler model 3430 moisture\density gauge containing a 40 milliCurie americium-241 source and an 8 milliCurie cesium-137 source was stolen from an employee's truck. The truck was parked at the employee's residence and when they came out to go to the job site they found both chains securing the gauge in the truck were cut and the gauge was missing. The RSO stated they had notified local law enforcement and the fire department.
The RSO stated their management group was searching social media looking for the gauge. The RSO stated they currently have people in the field looking for the gauge. The RSO stated the gauge operating arm was locked. The gauge would not create an exposure risk to any individual unless the lock was cut off the operating arm and the cesium source exposed. Additional information will be provided as it is received in accordance with SA-300.
TX Incident # 9803.
The following was received from the Agency via email:
On November 27, 2020, the Agency was notified that the gauge was recovered by the Austin, Texas Police Department. The licensee has been contacted and is arranging to pick up the device. Addition information will be provided as it is received in accordance with SA-300.
Notified R4DO (Kozal), NMSS Event Notification (email), ILTAB (email), and CNSNS Mexico (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