INES-event
INES 1

Stolen and lately recovered intact radioactive source

At 21:50, on 03.09.2012, the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (BNRA) received a notification for an industrial radiography camera being stolen. The robbery happened at 15:00 o’clock when the radiography crew had been performing weld checks at a construction site in Sofia (Kosta Lulchev street). The industrial radiography camera is owned by a licensed construction company (license valid till January 2015).
Stolen camera is of the Gammamat R 30 type and is loaded with an Ir-192 radioactive source with a total activity of 380 GBq. Without the shielding, the source gives a dose rate of 30 mSv/h, measured at 1 m from the source. As the shielding is almost 5 cm thick, it reduces the dose rate to around 3 µSv/h at 1 m.
BNRA promptly notified the police, all scrap processing plants (where the source was expected to be found), larger scrap dealers, the Sofia municipality (to warn the waste companies) and the Border police (in respect to attempts to export the source), as well as the media.
With the joint efforts of all institutions, on 04.09.2012 at 20:00 o’clock the source was found close to a petrol station, located not far away from the construction site. The source was intact, with no obvious signs for attempts to dismantle it. The source was safeguarded and put into a safe storage.

Location: Sofia
Event date: Mon, 03-09-2012
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