Information Notice No. 88-02: Lost or Stolen Gauges

                                  UNITED STATES
                          NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                OFFICE DF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS
                                WASHINGTON, D.C.  20555

                                February 2, 1988


Information Notice No. 88-02:  LOST OR STOLEN GAUGES

Addressees:

All NRC licensees authorized to possess gauges under a specific or general 
license.

Purpose:

This notice is intended to inform licensees of the requirement to notify NRC 
immediately if gauges are lost or stolen.  It is expected that licensees will 
review the information for applicability to their specific or generally 
licensed activities, distribute the notice to responsible radiation safety 
staff, and consider actions, if appropriate, to preclude a similar problem 
occurring at their facilities.  However, this information notice does not 
constitute new NRC requirements, and no written response is required.

Description of Circumstances:

In several recent events, fixed gauges containing radioactive material were 
removed from production lines, set aside, and lost or stolen.  It is believed 
that these gauges were inadvertently transferred to unrestricted areas, such 
as a scrap yard or landfill.  Reasonable attempts were made to find the 
gauges, but without success.  In several cases, the loss of the gauge was not 
reported to the NRC until long after the gauge was first noticed to be 
missing.  The failure to control the gauges, and the failure to report the 
loss of the gauges to the NRC, has been the subject of escalated civil penalty 
enforcement actions.

Discussion:

The NRC considers theft or the loss of a gauge to be a situation which could 
constitute a substantial hazard and therefore be reportable under 10 CFR Part 
20.402(a)(1).  Lost gauges have, in the past, resulted in exposures to members 
of the public and contamination of unrestricted areas.  Licensees are advised 
that any loss or theft of a gauge should be immediately reported to the NRC as 
required by 10 CFR Part 20.402.

Licensees should also note that both general and specific licenses for fixed 
gauges normally prohibit removal of gauges from their installed location 
except by a licensed manufacturer or service company, unless the user licensee 
is authorized to do so by his license.  Further, most specific and general 
gauge licensees are required, as a condition of that license or instructions 
from the manufacturer, to periodically inventory and/or leak test the gauges 
in their possession.


8801260102
.                                                            IN 88-02
                                                            February 2, 1988
                                                            Page 2 of 2


No written response is required by this notice.  If you have any questions 
regarding this information notice, please contact the appropriate NRC regional 
office or this office.





                                        Richard E. Cunningham, Director
                                        Division of Industrial and
                                          Medical Nuclear Safety
                                        Office of Nuclear Material
                                          Safety and Safeguards

Technical Contact:  Jack R. Metzger, NMSS
                    (301) 492-3424

Attachment:    List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

.                                                            Attachment
                                                            IN 88-02
                                                            February 2, 1988
                                                            Page 1 of 1


                              LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED
                              NRC INFORMATION NOTICES

                                                                             
Information                                     Date of
Notice         Subject                          Issuance     Issued to       

88-01          Safety Injection Pipe Failure    1/27/88     All holders of OLs
                                                            or Cps for nuclear
                                                            power reactors.

86-81,         Broken External Closure          1/11/88     All holders of OLs
Supp. 1        Springs on Atwood & Morrill                  or Cps for nuclear
               Main Stear Isolation Valves                  power reactors.

87-67          Lessons Learned from Regional    12/31/87    All holders of 0Ls
               Inspections of Licensee Actions              or CPs for nuclear
               in Response to IE Bulletin 80-11             power reactors.

87-66          Inappropriate Application of     12/31/87    All holders of OLs
               Commercial-Grade Components                  or CPs for nuclear
                                                            power reactors.

87-28,         Air Systems Problems at U.S.     12/28/87    All holders of OLs
Supp. 1        Light Water Reactors                         or CPs for nuclear
                                                            power reactors.

87-65          Plant Operation Beyond Analyzed  12/23/87    All holders of OLs
               Conditions                                   or CPs for nuclear
                                                            power reactors.

87-64          Conviction for Falsification     12/22/87    All nuclear power
               of Security Training Records                 reactor facilities
                                                            holding an OL or 
                                                            CP and all major 
                                                            fuel facility 
                                                            licensees.

87-35,         Reactor Trip Breaker             12/16/87    All holders of OLs
Supp. 1        Westinghouse Model DS-416,                   or CPs for nuclear
               Failed to Open on Manual                     power reactors.
               Initiation from the Control
               Room

87-63          Inadequate Net Positive           12/9/87    All holders of OLs
               Suction Head in Low Pressure                 or CPs for nuclear
               Safety Systems                               power reactors.
                                                                             
OL = Operating License
CP = Construction Permit