Event Notification Report for August 16, 2005

LOST/MISSING MOISTURE DENSITY GAUGE

The employee placed the CPN Moisture Density Gauge (s/n: 18098458 Am/Be, Cs-137) into its case and placed the case in the back of the pickup truck. Before the employee chained the case to the truck he was required to move away from the back of the truck. He later drove away without chaining the case to the truck or closing the back gate. About 0.3 miles down the road he noticed that the gate was open and the gauge was missing. He returned to the work site but did not see the gauge along the way and could not find the gauge at the work site. The incident was reported to the local police. The company is notifying the local news media and is offering a reward.

Less than the quantity of a Category 3 source.

Sources that are "Less than 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.

For 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.

* * * UPDATE FROM RODRIGUEZ TO HUFFMAN AT 1510 EDT ON 8/22/05 * * *

The licensee states that an individual retrieved the gauge from the road after it had fallen off the truck. The gauge was stored in an office building where the individual worked. The individual that recovered the gauge could not find any identifying information on the gauge container as to the owner or a contact telephone number. However, the individual did hear about the lost gauge through media coverage and was, therefore, able to track down and contact the licensee. At 12:30 EDT on 8/22/05, the licensee has recovered the gauge from the individual that found it and observed that it was in its properly stored and safe configuration. It has been examined in detail and is not damaged in any way. The licensee stated that he also planned to notify the responsible NRC Region 1 inspector (Beardsley) about the recovery of the gauge. R1DO (Cook), NMSS EO (Morell), and TAS (Perez via email) have been notified.

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - DAMAGED MOISTURE DENSITY GAUGE

The State provided the following information via facsimile:

"A notification was made by the RSO on August 16, 2005, concerning a portable moisture density gauge that was run over at the Menasha coal plant, a temporary job site. The approximate time of the incident was 2:30 pm. The gauge was a Troxler 3440 containing 10 milliCuries of Cs-137 and 50 milliCuries of Am-241. The RSO reported that the radiation readings were verified as normal by comparing the reading at 1 meter to the Transportation Index. Visual observation confirmed that the source rod is in the normal position and the shielding is intact. Other individuals on the job site including the truck driver that ran over the gauge were surveyed. The area where the gauge was damaged was surveyed after the gauge was moved a few feet away and no radiation readings above background were noted. The gauge was transported back to the licensee's facility in Neenah [WI]. DHFS staff were dispatched to confirm that there was no contamination on August 17, 2005. The licensee has taken a wipe smear and is sending it to Troxler for counting. The gauge is locked in the transport case and has been placed in storage."

WI report number: 29

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - STOLEN TROXLER MOISTURE DENSITY GAUGE

An employee parked the truck containing the Troxler Moisture Density Gauge (Model 3411B, s/n 7573, Am/Be 40 milli Curies, Cs-137 8 milli Curies) overnight at his apartment complex. The gauge was secured by a lock and chain. The truck was parked at 2200 CDT on 08/15/05. When the employee returned to the truck at 0700 on 08/16/05 the chain was cut and the gauge was gone. The theft was reported to the police.

TX report number: TX-I-8252.

Less than the quantity of an IAEA Category 3 source.

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.

For 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.

* * * UPDATE FROM CHRIS MOORE TO J. KNOKE AT 16:46 EDT ON 08/18/05 * * *

An individual called the owner of the lost Troxler gauge, indicating it was discarded on her property. The gauge was initially picked up by the local fire department, and then by the owner. The gauge was surveyed and had readings of less than 1 mr/hr. The gauge was found to have no damage, however, all the associated paperwork was missing.

Notified the R4DO (Sanborn), NMSS (Holonich) and TAS (Perez) of the update. Faxed Mexico the update.

Note: Event modified on 8/22/05 to correct the name of the individual from the State of Texas that provided the update to this event.