Event Notification Report for December 07, 2005

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THIS IS NOT A NEW REPORT.

This event report was originally withheld from public release under the NRC's policy for protecting sensitive unclassified information. The NRC has reevaluated this policy and is now making this event report available to the public with suitable redactions.
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APPARENT LOSS OF NATURAL THORIUM SHIPMENT

"A drum of thorium shavings appears to have been lost during shipment. On 11/11/2005 Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) shipped a 55 gallon drum of thorium shavings to LR International Inc. The drum was then to be shipped to Highways International of Holland.

"On or about 11/22/05 [a contact point] at Highways International informed [NFS] that the shipment had not arrived. [NFS] checked the [shipping company] tracking number and it showed that the shipment had been delivered on 11/21/05.

"[NFS] contacted LR International who said that they did not accept large shipments at their Wood Dale Road location and that they had directed the driver to [a trucking company] in Bensenville, IL. [NFS] contacted [the trucking company] who said that they had not received a shipment, but would check again."

After contacting the shipping company and other contact points more in the ensuing time period on 12/7/05 NFS determined that the shipment was lost. The shipment consisted of 10 kilograms of natural thorium with a calculated activity of 2200 microCurie.

The licensee informed the agreement state of Tennessee. The state of Tennessee representative told the licensee that they would contact the agreement state of Illinois.

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

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 it is being categorized as a less than Category 3 source.

* * * UPDATE FROM DROKE TO KNOKE AT 17:40 EST ON 12/13/05 * * *

The licensee provided the following RETRACTION via facsimile:

"On December 8, 2005, Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS), made a telephone notification to the State of Tennessee and the NRC Operations Center based on SRPAR 1200-2-5-.140 and 10 CFR 20.2201(a)(1)(ii), respectively. At that time, an NFS shipping package containing 10 kgs of Thorium was suspected to be lost, stolen, or missing; in that, the carrier stated the package had been delivered to a forwarding agent in Illinois on November 21, 2005, and the forwarding agent stated that they could not locate the package. Although the referenced regulations allow NFS up to 30 days to make the notification after learning of the potentially missing material, and the material has to still be missing at that time, NFS chose to inform the regulatory agencies soon after management became aware of the matter.

"NFS has now been informed by the forwarding agent that the package of Thorium has been located at their facility, and arrangements are being made to return the package to NFS. The FBI has also confirmed that the package has been located. Because it has been less than 30 days since NFS first learned that the package of Thorium may be missing, and because the package has now been located, NFS believes that the earlier telephone notification was not required and is therefore requesting that it be retracted."

Notified R2DO (Decker), R3DO ( Burgess) and NMSS (Essig).


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.

* * * UPDATE 05/11/08 BY P. SNYDER * * *

THIS IS NOT A NEW REPORT.

This event report was originally withheld from public release under the NRC's policy for protecting sensitive unclassified information. The NRC has reevaluated this policy and is now making this event report available to the public with suitable redactions.

FIRE INVOLVING NUCLEAR GAUGE

"This is a follow-up report of an incident involving a nuclear gauge.

"The gauge was a model 5192, built by Thermo Measuretech. It was a 100 mCi source of Cesium 137 Serial # B-6809.

"This gauge was a sealed source, permanently mounted to a 2" high pressure pipe. It was mounted to the plumbing at the rear of Unit 4451, a cement pump unit. The fire apparently started in the building that this truck was housed in for the purposes of thawing a frozen pump. Control of the gauge was never relinquished. A fire started in the facility located approximately 2 miles East of Cut Bank, Mt. and owned by General Well Servicing. The fire is still under investigation by Sanjel's insurance carrier.

"The fire started approximately 1515 on the 7th of December 2005. I was notified at approximately 1801. I notified the USNRC Emergency number @1904.

"First responders were notified by the Sanjel Authorized Users about the gauge. The first responders didn't have access to a survey meter; I arrived on site at 0445 on the 8th of December 2005. I conducted a survey from upwind to the building and found no trace of radiation, but I was restricted from going into the facility by Sheriffs deputy until cleared by the Fire Chief at approximately 0730.

"At 0730, I surveyed the area around the rear of the truck under the observation of the Sheriff s deputy, and surveyed the gauge. I observed readings from 1.5 mRad to what I thought I had read, 11.5 mRad. The survey was made in darkness. I questioned the local fire chief and sheriffs deputy about any personnel coming close to the gauge; I was told that the fire was primarily contained to the front of the vehicle, and the fire fighters were cautioned and restrained from getting within 30 feet of the gauge. I feel that I received the highest dose there removing the gauge/detector and pipe and conducting the survey, taking 10 minutes at 11.5 mRad x 1 (quantifier for beta/gamma sources)= 1.91 mRem/hr.

"The gauge was removed @ 1200 with the permission of the State Fire Marshall and transported by covered vehicle to the Sanjel Miles City office. The area around where the gauge was mounted was surveyed, rendering no recordable readings. The path from the location of the gauge to the recovery vehicle was also surveyed rendering no noticeable readings. A second survey of the gauge was made at the recovery vehicle in daylight, showing a reading on 3 mRad on the sides of the source, 1.5mRad on the front and 2 mRad on the top, 1mRad on the bottom. This would change the highest dose received to 0.5mRem/hr.

"The reason for the delay in this report is my interpretation of RIS 2005-06, 10 CFR 20.2202, and HPPOS-322 I felt this was not a reportable incident. I am reporting this after contacting Jack Witten, Tony Gaines and Bob Brown on January 26, 2006. These are my contacts at the Region IV in Arlington, TX. And being advised that this is a reportable incident under 10 CFR 30.50, (b)(ii).

"The corrective action plan for this incident, is to advise Authorized Users that locations and facilities used on a temporary use must be inspected by management prior to use. As of today, 26 January 2005, the gauge has been transferred to Thermo-Electron for decommissioning due to the repair."

The following information was provided to the NRC Operations Center during the initial notification at 2104 EST on 12/07/05 by the RSO for Sanjel, USA, Inc.:

RSO for Sanjel, USA, Inc called to inform the NRC that his company owns a truck with a Cs-137 source mounted on the back for measuring cement density. The truck is parked inside a well servicing building in Cutbank, Montana and that building is on fire. Fire company personnel have responded and the local sheriff has set up a barrier to keep unauthorized personnel 1 mile from the site due to the hazardous chemicals stored in the building. Sanjel Technicians have informed the sheriff of the Cs-137 source on their truck. The source manufacturer is Thermal Measure Tech, model 5192, Serial # B-6809, Activity - 100 millicuries. The source is mounted on a pipe to measure the cement density pumped through the pipe, and is enclosed in a lead shield with normal on contact radiation readings of 2 mr/hr. Sanjel NRC license # is 54-27692-01. RSO is enroute to the site of the fire (8 hours away). While in route, he will keep NRC HQ notified of any updates he receives and will make a final report once he can access the situation properly.

Notified R4DO (Kennedy) and NMSS EO (Pierson)