Radioactive device stolen in outbanks area, residents on guard

Press Release: N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Published: November 10, 2008

RALEIGH – The N.C. Radiation Protection Section reported today that a device containing Cobalt 57, a radioactive material, was stolen on Friday from a pickup in Buxton.

State officials are advising residents of the Avon, Ocracoke and Buxton areas that the device, if handled improperly, can pose a potential health and safety risk. Cobalt 57 and the device itself are used to test for lead contamination in paints and other surface materials.  Martix Health and Safety reported the device – an RMD model LPA-1 paint analyzer – as stolen from a 2000 Blue Chevy Silverado with the owner’s name on the side of the truck. The theft was reported to the state’s Radiation Protection Section and the Hyde County Sheriff’s Department.

The device is a RMD Model LPA-1 X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) paint analyzer, serial number 2054. The device was secured in its transportation container – a black aluminum briefcase measuring 14-inches-by-16-inches by 8-inches – at the time of its disappearance. There are no markings on the outside of the transport case. The device resembles a large, pistol-grip garden hose sprayer attachment. It has a digital readout on the back of the device, push-button pad, and a small yellow and magenta radiation symbol on the top.

The source of radioactive material – 15 millicuries of Cobalt 57 – is sealed in a stainless steel capsule. The device poses no immediate health or safety threat unless it is mishandled or broken open. If the device is found, do not touch or move it.

If this device is found or you have any information concerning its location, please contact the Hyde County Sheriff’s Department at (252) 926-3171, the N.C. Radiation Protection Section at (919) 571-4141, or your local law enforcement agency at 911.

Matrix Health and Safety is offering a reward for the return of the sealed device.

The N.C. Radiation Protection Section is investigating this incident to determine if Matrix Health and Safety was in compliance with their, radioactive materials license at the time of the theft.