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Misplaced radioactive device raises concerns
By Mary Manning
<manning@lasvegassun.com>
LAS VEGAS SUN

A radioactive source misplaced for two hours at a local casino during a training exercise raised the concerns of Nevada radiological officials.

After Sept. 11 and public fears of a "dirty bomb" made from radioactive materials, such an incident is "a public relations nightmare, not a public health threat," University of Nevada, Las Vegas, health physicist William Johnson said.

Bechtel Nevada trainers recovered the device, a radioactive source used to measure the accuracy of monitoring equipment. They discovered the device was missing after they returned equipment to the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and returned to the hotel.

Bechtel was conducting a course at Santa Fe Station in how to respond to weapons of mass destruction on July 22-23 for 105 law enforcement and emergency crews, said LeeAnn Inadomi, Bechtel's manager of external affairs and strategic communications.

The dime-sized piece of cesium posed no public health threat and the person responsible was not reprimanded, Inadomi said.

"The person responsible was asked over and over again if all the sources were accounted for," she said. "Obviously, a mistake was made."

When training exercises are conducted at a hotel, the experts keep the keys to a locked storage area, Inadomi said. The source was left behind in a room used for training on July 22.

Stan Marshal, chief of the Nevada Bureau of Radiological Health, said that the state has called Bechtel and the National Nuclear Security Administration to fill in the details of what occurred. Bechtel is the contractor hired by the NNSA to manage the Test Site.

"In a way, it almost becomes a non-issue," Marshal said, because the source was not found on the street or on the casino floor. "It still is an issue and we have talked to people involved. I believe we have concluded the source was found in a controlled area."

The radioactive source is small and does not need a license, field officer Larry Franks in the Las Vegas bureau office said.

"A person could eat it and nothing would happen," said Johnson, the health physicist.

To put it in context, the radioactive source is a fraction of the 330 millirems of natural radiation Las Vegas residents are exposed to every year from the sun, cosmic rays and local rocks, he said.

"It's still a public relations nightmare with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the fear of a 'dirty bomb,' " Johnson said.

There are small radioactive sources everywhere, including construction sites and universities, that do not need a permit, Johnson said.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reported about 170 radioactive devices from laboratories, universities and construction sites missing and unaccounted for through 2001.

Thu, August 8, 2002
Radioactive-material theft is 2nd within four months
Gauge may pose biggest risk to children, official says

By Victoria Cherrie
JOURNAL REPORTER

For the second time in four months, authorities are searching for radioactive materials stolen from a parked truck.

Thieves used bolt-cutters Tuesday night to remove a case containing a moisture-density gauge from the bed of a contractor's truck. The gauge contains small amounts of Americium 241/Beryllium and Cesium 137. The materials are radioactive and are a potential health and safety risk if handled improperly or broken open.

The biggest danger is to children, who might find the gauge and not realize its potential hazards, said Don Reuter, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The gauge, which is used to test conditions of soil and asphalt during construction, was reported stolen about 10p.m. from a pickup parked outside the Super 8 Motel at 200 Mercantile Drive.

Bunnel-Lammons Engineering Inc., a licensed contractor in Arden, owns the truck. The gauge was properly secured, officials said.

The company is offering a $250 reward for the return of the gauge, which is the second of its kind to be stolen in the area this year. In April, two men were charged with stealing a truck that had the same kind of gauge inside.

The truck, owned by a Greensboro paving company, was stolen while parked on U.S. 311 in Forsyth County. Investigators found the truck and gauge a few days later.

The gauge stolen Tuesday has an orange case with a radioactive-materials label on its base. Reuter estimated the gauge's worth between $8,000 and $10,000.

The greatest health risk would occur if a person were directly exposed to the sealed radioactive material inside the gauge, Reuter said.

Being exposed to the material at a distance of 5 to 10 feet would be similar to being exposed to gamma rays from an X-ray, Reuter said.

"The biggest problem would be if children found it in a ditch somewhere and started playing with it, possibly exposing themselves at a greater level," he said.

DENR is working with local investigators to find the gauge. The agency has been more focused on the handling of hazardous materials since the theft in 1998 of 19 tubes of radioactive material from a cancer clinic at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital, Reuter said.

DENR has also been on alert even more about hazardous materials since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

It is unlikely that the material in the gauge could be used for any kind of weapon or other dangerous device, Reuter said. Still, it could be dangerous if used the wrong way, he said.

Anyone with information about the missing instrument is asked to call the Winston-Salem Police Department at 773-7770.

• Victoria Cherrie can be reached at 727-7283 or at vcherrie@wsjournal.com

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