DENVER—Two scientific instruments containing “extremely low-level” radioactive material are missing from a federal laboratory in Boulder, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday.
NOAA described the safety and health risk as low. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the instruments have a source strength of 15 millicuries.
NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said that was “minute.” John Schneider, deputy director for research at NOAA’s Earth System Research lab, said he couldn’t compare it to a medical instrument like an X-ray because the radiation is different.
NOAA said the instruments are gas chromatographs, used to analyze atmospheric gases. They contain a small amount of radioactive Nickel-63 inside sealed “electron capture detectors.”
The radioactivity is due to a coating on a thin, foil-like material, roughly a square centimeter or smaller.
The instruments, about the size of a mini-refrigerator, were placed in storage six years ago at the Earth System Research Lab. An annual inventory failed to account for them.
A used chromatograph can sell for about $12,000, said Schneider.
The lab first suspected the chromatographs were missing in February 2006 and has been checking its seven facilities around the world, resale vendors, employees and partners since then for the instruments, Schneider said.
NOAA didn’t publicly announce the equipment was missing until the NRC sent the lab a letter on Wednesday outlining steps it must take or risk facing enforcement action.
The NRC posted a notice in September on its Web site that said NOAA had indicated the chromatographs were missing.
The NRC inspected the lab twice in October. NRC Regional Administrator Elmo Collins said in a letter Wednesday to NOAA that inspectors identified a number of concerns but that “our inspections did not identify an immediate safety hazard that would threaten public health and safety or the environment.”
NRC said lab officials have agreed to account for all licensed radioactive material, improve security practices and review its radiation safety programs.
Collins said NRC had concerns with “historical problems” with inventory controls of NOAA’s radioactive sources, and labeling and security of licensed radioactive material. During random, after-hours inspections, NRC found that at three facilities, material wasn’t under constant surveillance by lab personnel and could have been accessed by housekeeping staff or other NOAA personnel not authorized to access the material.
“We have a very good record, but there are some things we need to fix,” Schneider said. “None were significant enough that we had to stop work. They didn’t tell us we had a safety risk for our workers, so these things we have to fix are not an indicator we’re out of control or anything. We’re looking at this as an opportunity to fix some loose threads.”
The chromatographs were stored in a building that is locked around the clock. Schneider did not know how many people have keys to the building.
Last summer, a National Institute of Standards and Technology lab in Boulder reported a small amount of plutonium spilled when a vial cracked.
