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Event Notification Report for April 10, 2019

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Operations Center

Event Reports For
4/9/2019 - 4/10/2019

** EVENT NUMBERS **

Agreement State	Event Number: 53916
Rep Org: ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Licensee: GTS, INC. Region: 4 City: ROGERS State: AR County: License #: ARK-0995-03121 Agreement: Y Docket: NRC Notified By: CHRISTOPHER TALLEY HQ OPS Officer: JEFFREY WHITED	Notification Date: 03/08/2019 Notification Time: 09:50 [ET] Event Date: 03/05/2019 Event Time: 00:00 [CST] Last Update Date: 04/10/2019
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: AGREEMENT STATE	Person (Organization): GREG WERNER (R4DO) NMSS_EVENTS_NOTIFICATION (EMAIL)

Event Text

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - TROXLER GAUGE DESTROYED WHEN RUN OVER

The following was received from the Arkansas Department of Health via e-mail:

"The Department [Arkansas Department of Health Radioactive Materials Program] received notification on March 5, 2019, from licensee GTS, Inc. that a Troxler gauge model 3440 [serial number: 73390, 40mCi Am-241, 8 mCi Cs-137] had been struck by a skid steer while performing routine measurements at a road construction site. As a result of the incident, the source had been pulled from its testing position and become partially exposed.

"Upon review of the event, it was noted that the technician quickly created a thirty (30) foot containment barrier and notified his company's Radiation Safety Officer [RSO]. The [RSO] for GTS mobilized to the event location and contacted the [Department].

"Upon receiving an exemption from the Department, the RSO was able to manipulate the source into the shielded position and place the remnants into the transportation container for transport to the permanent storage location. The gauge was returned to the permanent storage location at approximately 1330 [CST] on March 5, 2019. The licensee performed leak tests of the sources, surveys of the gauge transport container, and surveys of the storage location.

"[Department] inspectors visited the licensee on March 6, 2019, to investigate the event. Surveys at the exterior of the transport container were determined to be 3-5 mR/hr. Surveys performed inside of the transport container were measured to be a maximum of 15 mR/hr at a location close to the surface of the shielded source.

"The [Department] considers this investigation open pending receipt and review of the licensee's 30 day report"

State of Arkansas Event Report No. : AR-2019-002

* * * UPDATE AT 1437 EDT ON 4/10/19 FROM CHRISTOPHER TALLEY TO KARL DIEDERICH * * *

The following was received via e-mail:

"Upon review of the licensee's 30 day report, received April 5, 2019, it was noted that the dosimetry badge worn by the RSO during the retraction and transportation of the source showed no measurable dose. The dosimetry badge was new for the month of March.

"The report also contained leak test results for the sources both prior to the event, January 19, 2019, and after the event, March 6, 2019. The results for the leak tests in both instances were measured to be below 185 Bq (0.005 microCuries), considering the sources to be non-leaking sources.

"The company conducted mandatory safety meetings with all staff who work with the portable gauges and also sent a companywide e-mail to all employees as a result of the event. Topics discussed during the meetings and e-mail included radiation safety, worksite safety, portable gauge specific safety and use, emergency response procedures, and gauge security. The contractor responsible for the skid steer also conducted an on-site safety meeting immediately following the event on March 5, 2019.

"The Department now considers this event to be closed providing that no new information is received by the Department."

Notified R4DO (Werner) and NMSS Events (via e-mail).

Agreement State	Event Number: 53969
Rep Org: NEW YORK STATE DEPT. OF HEALTH Licensee: PARSONS Region: 1 City: CAMILLUS State: NY County: License #: NYS G5571 Agreement: Y Docket: NRC Notified By: NATHANIEL KISHBAUGH HQ OPS Officer: JEFFREY WHITED	Notification Date: 04/02/2019 Notification Time: 13:47 [ET] Event Date: 03/15/2019 Event Time: 16:00 [EDT] Last Update Date: 04/02/2019
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: AGREEMENT STATE	Person (Organization): MATT YOUNG (R1DO) NMSS_EVENTS_NOTIFICATION (EMAIL) ILTAB (EMAIL) - CNSC (CANADA) (EMAIL)

This material event contains a "Less than Cat 3" level of radioactive material.

Event Text

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - LOST MOISTURE DENSITY GAUGES

The following was received via fax:

"The Radiation Safety Officer [RSO] for Parsons called to report that four (4) generally licensed fixed slurry moisture gauges were missing. Each gauge contained 90 microCuries of cesium-137. All devices were of Ronan Engineering RLL-1 1619 5L2A3 make and model, and sources were of Ronan SRC-PT-CS-90UCL make/model. The device serial nos. are: DX-520 with source s/n DE-520; DX-814 with source s/n DE-814; DX-816 with source s/n DE-816; and DX-818 with source s/n DE-818. These sources were inadvertently left at 522 Gerelock Road, Camillus, New York 13031 following completion of extensive contract work for Honeywell International. The sources were identified as lost by the RSO on March 15, 2019, at 1600 EDT. These sources were not found upon the RSO's return to the Camillus facility, and the RSO reported the lost sources to NYSDOH [New York State Department of Health] on March 18, 2019, at 0830 EDT. Parsons will be contacting Honeywell International and other contractors at this facility to locate the missing sources. NYSDOH Incident number 1272 assigned to track this event."

New York Event Report ID No.: NY-19-01

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

Agreement State	Event Number: 53970
Rep Org: CALIFORNIA RADIATION CONTROL PRGM Licensee: MISTRAS GROUP Region: 4 City: LONG BEACH State: CA County: License #: 4832-19 Agreement: Y Docket: NRC Notified By: ROBERT GREGER HQ OPS Officer: DONALD NORWOOD	Notification Date: 04/02/2019 Notification Time: 18:39 [ET] Event Date: 04/01/2019 Event Time: 00:00 [PDT] Last Update Date: 04/02/2019
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR Section: AGREEMENT STATE	Person (Organization): VINCENT GADDY (R4DO) NMSS_EVENTS_NOTIFICATION (EMAIL) ANDREA KOCK (NMSS) SILAS KENNEDY (IRD) JIM WHITNEY (ILTAB)

This material event contains a "Category 2" level of radioactive material.

Event Text

LOST THEN FOUND CATEGORY 2 RADIOGRAPHY EXPOSURE DEVICE

The following information was received via E-mail:

"The licensee RSO [Radiation Safety Officer] reported that a Mistras technician lost an INC IR-100 radiography camera, serial number 6744, on April 1, 2019, between approximately 0000 and 0100 PDT. The camera contained an Ir-192 sealed source, number 159E, with 85.3 curies.

"The radiography camera was left unsecured on the tailgate of a company darkroom vehicle upon departing the licensee's Long Beach office. The camera was being transported to the Chevron refinery in El Segundo for radiographic operations during the night. The lost camera was reported to the Long Beach office (at approximately 0110 PDT) by the technician upon arrival at the El Segundo refinery, and a radiography crew was sent from the Long Beach office to search the route taken by the first individual. The camera was found and recovered by the radiography crew approximately 0130 PDT on the breakdown lane of limited-access CA Hwy 91 westbound, approximately 4 miles from the Long Beach facility (near Wilmington Ave).

"The recovered radiography camera was returned to the Long Beach facility, where a leak test was performed, showing no leakage. The radiography camera was sent to a repair facility for further inspection. RHB [Radiation Health Branch] will investigate the cause of the incident, take appropriate enforcement action, and ensure appropriate corrective actions by the licensee."

California 5010 Number: 040119

Notified External: DHS SWO, FEMA Ops Center, USDA Ops Center, HHS Ops Center, DOE Ops Center, DHS NICC Watch Officer, and EPA EOC.

Notified External via E-mail and/or FAX: Mexico, FDA EOC, NuclearSSA, FEMA National Watch Center, DNDO-JAC.

THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A "CATEGORY 2" LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

Category 2 sources, if not safely managed or securely protected, could cause permanent injury to a person who handled them, or were otherwise in contact with them, for a short time (minutes to hours). It could possibly be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period of hours to days. These sources are typically used in practices such as industrial gamma radiography, high dose rate brachytherapy and medium dose rate brachytherapy. For additional information go to http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Wednesday, March 24, 2021