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Radioactive material reported missing from demolition site



Radioactive material reported missing from demolition site

Wednesday February 11, 2004



http://wcbs880.com/njnews/NJ--RadioactiveMateri-jn/resources_news_html





EAST ORANGE, N.J. (AP) Authorities are looking for two sealed

sources of radioactive material reported missing from a

demolition site, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said

Wednesday.



A worker left the moisture density gauge at the site of the

former Arcadian Gardens housing project at lunchtime Monday and

returned to find the crushed remains of the gauge and the

radioactive sources missing, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.



The amount of radioactive material involved is not considered to

be significant, but officials are concerned that someone with

prolonged contact could receive harmful amounts of radiation

exposure.



``This on its own would probably be insufficient to build any

sort of terrorist device, but the biggest concern for us is that

members of the public might be unwittingly exposed to this,''

Sheehan said Wednesday evening.



Portable moisture density gauges can be used to measure the

amount of moisture in soil. The device projects radiation from

the two sources into the ground and then displays the reflected

radiation on a dial on top of the gauge, the NRC said in a news

release.



The gauge emits about 3 rems of radiation per hour, Sheehan said.

By comparison, the average American receives about 360 millirems

every year from manmade and natural sources. One rem is equal to

1,000 millirems.



A number of moisture density gauges go missing every year

nationwide, but Sheehan said many of them are returned once

people realize what they have.



``It appears pretty clear that this device was damaged for

whatever reason,'' Sheehan said. ``Either the sources were placed

with some other demolition material and they have not been able

to find it or someone who didn't know what they had walked off

with this.''



The company using the gauge, PMK Group, Inc., has until the close

of business Thursday to submit a search plan to the NRC for the

missing sources.



If the materials are still missing by Friday, the company must

put together a list of every person present at the site on

Monday. They also must provide a description to those who may

have come into contact with the sources.



A message left at the firm after-hours Wednesday was not

immediately returned.





(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)



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