The following information was obtained from the state of
New Jersey Radioactive Materials Program (NJ RMP) via email:
On 2/17/2022, staff [at NJ RMP] was notified via police report that two XRF devices were stolen from the licensee's location in March of 2021. This notification resulted from an investigation initiated by NJ RMP staff to obtain unpaid licensing fees in January 2022. While doing so, staff found that the RSO died in March of 2021 and the licensed storage location was for sale. Staff were able to make contact with the estate lawyer to attempt to locate the devices. On 2/17/2022, the estate lawyer forwarded staff a police report filed on 3/9/2021 reporting the stolen devices and other items. No follow up to find the stolen items was done by the police or family members. No further investigation is expected. The license was revoked on 2/23/2022.
Device 1 was manufactured by RMD Instruments, Inc., model LPA-1, serial number 1183, containing 12 mCi of Co-57.
Device 2 was manufactured by Viken Detection, model Pb200i, serial number 2537, containing 5 mCi of Co-57.
NJ Investigation number: 448354-INV220001
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