AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - LOST AND FOUND TROXLER MOISTURE DENSITY GAUGE
The following information was received from the state of Utah via email:
"On March 10, 2020, a member of the public was traveling on the road at about 500 North State Street in La Verkin, Utah. The individual saw a Troxler gauge (Model 3430) sitting in the middle of the road. He stopped picked it up and placed it in his truck. The gauge was not in a transport case, but the source rod was locked in the safe position, the individual took a couple of pictures of the gauge. The individual must have been familiar with portable gauges because he contacted an Engineering and Testing Company (Geotechnical Testing Services UT [GTS] 2700439) located in St. George. This licensee did not own the gauge, but told the individual to place the gauge in a secure location and stay away from it. GTS contacted the Division's [Utah Division of Radiation Control] emergency line to report that a gauge was found even though it was not theirs. This report was made at about 5:20 PM [MDT].
"There is another engineering company (Landmark Testing & Engineering, Inc. UT 2700428) in St George. The individual from GTS contacted an individual they knew who worked for Landmark Testing.
"The Duty Officer manning the emergency line made contact with the Section Manager for the Radioactive Materials Section at about 6:25 PM and informed him of the report. The Section Manager contacted the GTS personnel at about 6:36 PM to interview him about the particulars of the report. The information was relayed to the Section Manager. In addition, the GTS personnel informed the Section Manager that the gauge belonged to Landmark Testing & Engineering and that they were on their way to pick up the gauge. In addition, the GTS personnel were able to send a couple of pictures of the gauge that showed the casing on the gauge was cracked near the source handle and the casing was slightly separated in the front from the base of the gauge. The model (3430) and serial number (26770) were visible in the photos.
"The Section Manager contacted a staff member at about 6:52 PM, so that a report could be made to NRC. He had tried to contact the member of the public who had located the gauge, but had been unable to reach him.
"At the time of this report, the licensee (Landmark) had not reported the missing/found gauge to the Division. Further investigation of this matter will be conducted by the Division [Utah Division of Radiation Control] tomorrow. An update will be sent when more information is gathered."
Troxler gauges nominally contain 8 mCi of Cs-137 and 40 mCi of Am/Be.
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 |