AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - LOST SOURCES
The following information was provided by the PA Bureau of Radiation Protection (Department) via email:
On December 10, 2025, the Department was notified that the licensee may have lost two 100-millicurie americium-241 sealed sources (S/Ns 110790 and 113504). It is thought the loss occurred between June 2 and June 20, 2025, during clean-up activities in a maintenance area where the two sources may have been inadvertently disposed of in a roll-off container. The sources were used in Filtec model FT-50 fill gauges. The most recent leak test for the sources was completed, and passed, on June 1, 2025.
The Department is in contact with the licensee, awaiting more information regarding any possible overexposures or contamination, and will update this document as more information is provided.
The Department will perform a reactive inspection.
- * * UPDATE ON 12/23/2025 AT 0729 EST FROM JOHN CHIPPO TO IAN HOWARD * * *
The following information was provided by the Department via email:
After interviewing staff at the facility, we learned that the licensee had three Filtec FT-50 gauges in storage - two sourced, and one unsourced. When the storage area was cleaned out, the gauges were put in a roll off dumpster that was sent to Daniels and Miller scrap recycling center in Greensburg, PA. On December 22, 2025, Daniels and Miller recovered a gauge with the source (S/N 113504) inside and intact. They are actively looking in the same location for the other gauge.
There are several contributing factors that led to this incident. There was a lot of staff turn-over at the facility in the last few years, staff were inadequately trained, there was a lack of communication between departments, inadequate storage space for the gauges, and inadequate radiation signage.
Notified R1DO (Elkhiamy), ILTAB (Email), NMSS Events Notification (Email), and CNSC (Email)
PA Event Report ID: PA250017
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