Event Notification Report for July 30, 2007

MISSING/LOST NICKEL-63 15 MILLICURIE SOURCE

The Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) for The United States Environmental Protection Agency located in Cincinnati, OH reported they are missing a 15 millicurie Ni-63 source. The source was last seen December 01, 2006 when its 6 month leak test was performed. After the source was leak tested, the source was placed back in an unlocked drawer, where it has been kept since December 2001. The source was located below the HP Model # 5890 Series II Gas Chromatograph in which is it was used. The RSO said that they have been looking for the missing source since early June and they have been unable to find the source. The RSO said that anybody working for the US EPA in their building can enter the room in which the source was stored.



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.

TWO MISSING M114 A1 ELBOW TELESCOPES

"Location : Anniston AD [Army Depot], Anniston, AL

"Date reported to the licensee: 2 Aug 2007 by the Anniston AD RSO

"Licensed material involved: M114A1 elbow telescopes 2 each. NSN 1240-00-150-8889. Each elbow telescope contains 5.6 curies of tritium ( gaseous form).

"Historical information: On 30 June, two M102 howitzers left the maintenance repair facility at Anniston Army Depot from bldg. 418. Each howitzer contains a carrying case that contains the M114A1, M140 alignment device and M137 pantel telescope. The M102 howitzers and associated cases were transported to a contractor operated paint facility located on post in bldg 143. The howitzers were to be painted. When work was completed by the contractor, the howitzers and associated carrying cases (containing the tritium fire control devices) were moved to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) shipping area on or about July 23rd. During the week of July 23rd, DLA personnel inspected the howitzers and associated components prior to them being shipped. It was at this time that DLA discovered that the M114A1 elbow telescopes were missing from each of the respective cases. The other tritium devices in the carrying case (M140 and M137) were still present. The licensee RSO contacted Army CID on 3 August for assistance in investigating the loss of the devices. Army CID from Ft. McPherson, GA office will begin their investigation on Monday August 6th 2007.

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.

This source is not amongst those sources or devices identified by the IAEA Code of Conduct for the Safety & Security of Radioactive Sources to be of concern from a radiological standpoint. Therefore is it being categorized as a less than Category 3 source