FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – Small quantities of Uranium were found in a Fayetteville residence on Jan. 13, according to a report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The uranium was found by Fayetteville residents renting a home that used to be owned by a former professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering at the University of Arkansas, said Steve Voorhies, a spokesman for the university.
The former professor, who died on June 11, 2013, was named Cecil O. Cogburn. He was 94 years old and died at the Willard Walker Hospice Home in Fayetteville, according to his obituary. The obituary also states Cogburn was born in Caddo Gap, Ark. on May 22, 1919.
Two pieces of U-235 uranium were found in the residence, the report states. One was found in a “small glass vial with [a] lid.” The other was found in a “medium size jar with [a] lid.” Both were labeled, according to the report.
After the residents found the Uranium, they contacted the Radiation Safety Office at the University of Arkansas, Voorhies said. On Jan. 15, a radiation safety officer went to the home, took measurements and found no leakage or contamination within the house, according to Voorhies. He also said the home isn’t on campus.
The first piece of Uranium had an exposure reading of “2 millirem per hour,” according to the report. The second piece did not produce any readable dose, officials said.
Arkansas Department of Health officials requested that the University of Arkansas take “immediate possession” of the Uranium and “properly store and secure the items,” the report states.
Voorhies said the Uranium was gone from the University of Arkansas by Jan. 20.
“There was no danger,” he said.
Cogburn was a professor at the University of Arkansas from 1947 until 1989, his obituary states. An engineering addition at Corley Hall on the Arkansas Tech University campus in Russellville was named in his honor.
He was known as the “father of nuclear engineering education in the state of Arkansas,” according to his obituary. He introduced nuclear engineering courses at the University of Arkansas, his obituary states.