Public advised over stolen nuclear gauge device.
The Department of Public Health HSE North East and the EPA's office of Environmental Enforcement are urging people to stay away and not to tamper with a stolen Nuclear gauge device.
The device was stolen from a van in Drogheda Co Louth this week.
The HSE says the device contains an “encapsulated supply of caesium” which is a highly radioactive source and may have health implications for anybody who might “open, break or tamper” with the container.
Dr Keith Ian Quintyne, Specialist in Public Health Medicine North East advises members of the public that if they find this device, to “avoid tampering with it, and promptly link with local Gardaí and the Environmental Protection Agency.”
Dr Quintyne added that radiation risks to the general public are “low” if container remains intact.
Warning
The HSE also issued a factsheet regarding Caesium.
The radioactive source of interest is Caesium-137 which is welded inside stainless steel capsules. These sealed capsules or sources are designed to prevent leakage of radioactive material under severe accident conditions.
The source is part of an instrument called a Nuclear Moisture Density gauge (or Nuclear Gauge) which is specifically designed to measure the moisture and density of soils, aggregates, cement, and lime treated materials, and to measure the density of asphalt concrete.
Exposure to large amounts of radioactive caesium can damage cells in your body from the radiation. You might also experience acute radiation syndrome, which includes nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, bleeding, coma, and even death in cases of very high exposures.
The annual dose limit a member of the public can receive is set in the legislation and it is 1 millisievert (1 mSv/y). A person standing 1 metre away from the closed and secured transport case containing the stolen item would exceed the annual dose limit for a member of the public in approximately 100 hours.
In a scenario where this equipment is removed from the case and activated and an individual is in close proximity to it for an hour, they would receive a dose similar to having a CT scan.
The owner of the item is on standby to collect the item as soon as it is deemed safe; the integrity of the item will be checked by technical experts (dose rate measurements and wipe test) and managed accordingly, in liaison with the licensee and the manufacturer.