The following report was received from the State of
Colorado via fax:
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment received notification on the evening of 7/29/13 from ThruBit LLC, Colorado License Number 1179-01, that a 1.78 Ci Cs-137 well logging source fell out of a logging tool at a well site in Colorado and was not recovered until the following morning.
Details are as follows: On Sunday 7/28, the well-logging crew finished operations at the well site and removed the logging tool from the well around noon. Apparently, the Cs-137 source fell out of the logging tool while it was being returned to the logging truck. Seventeen hours later, the logging crew discovered the source was missing and returned to the well-site and retrieved the source, which was found on the ground. ThruBit's RSO and Department inspectors are on their way to the well-site to conduct an investigation and assess potential exposures.
No other details are available at this time.
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
Note: This device is assigned an
IAEA Category 3 value based on the actual radioactivity of the source, not on the device type. (Reference
IAEA RG-G-1.9)