Event Notification Report for May 22, 2007

LOST/STOLEN TROXLER MOISTURE DENSITY GAUGE

Rogers Group Company conducted a test at mile marker 63 on Edward T. Breathitt Parkway. After the test was completed they placed the Troxler 4640-B Moisture Density gauge [S/N 1772], 9 millicuries of Cs-137 [Sealed Source Model No. A-102112], in the back of the bed of truck, did not store it or tie it down, and they drove 3.5 miles South on Edward T. Breathitt Parkway at which time they turned around and drove back to mile marker 63. When they arrived back at mile marker 63 they discovered that the gauge was missing, believe that the gauge had fallen out of the truck while it was being driven. They retraced their route that they had taken and asked several working crews if they had seen the missing gauge. The gauge was not found and the licensee believes that a motorist had stopped and picked up the gauge. The licensee notified the State Police of the missing gauge.

Reference Number: KY070002

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.

* * * UPDATE RECEIVED FROM BRIAN PARSLEY TO JOE O'HARA AT 1519 ON 6/14/07 * * *

The Troxler Gauge has been found and returned to the licensee. Apparently, the gauge was recovered on 5/22/07 by a former employee of the Rogers Company, in the same general area where it was lost. The former employee took the gauge to his home in Vansans, Indiana. The individual reported the recovered gauge to the Vansans Police Department who contacted the Kentucky State Police. Both law enforcement agencies were able to confirm the identity of the gauge, and the gauge has been placed in the custody of the licensee.

Notified R1DO(Doerflein), R3DO(Phillips), and FSME(Morell)

CALIFORNIA AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - STOLEN TROXLER MOISTURE DENSITY GAUGE

"At 0830 on 5-22-07, the radiation safety officer notified [California Radiological Health Branch] that a vehicle (Chevy Silverado with an attached camper shell) was stolen with a nuclear gauge locked in the camper shell (Troxler, model 3440, #18250 with 8 mCi Cs-137 & 40 mCi Am-241:Be). The gauge was locked inside a transport case, the transport case was chained, blocked, & braced in the camper shell. The gauge user does not remember if the door to the camper shell was locked. The gauge user had not secured and locked the club to the steering wheel and he does not think the handle of the gauge was locked. The driver discovered the theft around 0515 this morning when he returned to his vehicle after being in a donut shop for approximately 10 minutes. The donut shop is located in Bellflower on the corner of Alondra and Eucalyptus. The Lakewood Police Department were notified and they took the report of the theft. The RSO was asked to notify [California Radiological Health Branch] immediately if the gauge was recovered. The licensee will be cited for failing to properly secure the gauge. Corrective actions: The licensee will counsel the gauge user, will provide refresher training to all gauge users on the required security of the gauge while in transit, and will perform unannounced inspections of each gauge user's vehicle to ensure they are following the company's established policies and procedures regarding the security of gauges while in transit."

Lakewood Police Report #: 607-14202-1337-093

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.

POSSIBLE OVEREXPOSURE EVENT DURING RADIOGRAPHY IN GULF OF MEXICO

Oceaneering International received a report from Landauer that two of their radiographers had May badge exposures of 5467 millirem and 5549 millirem (deep dose) respectively. The radiographers had been working on a pipe laying barge about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana during the month of May when these potential overexposures occurred. Oceaneering International immediately stopped work of one of the radiographers. The other radiographer had already stopped working due to a personal injury. Interviews with the radiographers indicated that both individuals had removed their shirts during work on a hot day with their exposure badges still attached to the shirts The shirts could have been placed in a location that was near the radiography work and picked up the exposure. Both radiographers had self-reading dosimetry that was read and logged daily. The total May exposures logged on the self-reading dosimeters were 126 millirem and 147 millirem respectively.

Oceaneering International is licensed under an Agreement State license from the State of Louisiana. This event has already been reported to the State of Louisiana and is under investigation by the State (See Agreement State Report EN#43481). However, after the RSO for Oceaneering International had discussions with NRC Region IV (Leonardi) about this event, the RSO decided to report the event to the Operations Center since the event occurred offshore and is under NRC jurisdiction at the time it occurred.