Cebu_4_2
4th December 2013, 04:24 AM
Truck carrying 'extremely dangerous' radioactive material stolen in MexicoBy Alexander Smith, NBC News contributor
A truck carrying "extremely dangerous" radioactive material has been stolen in Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.
The vehicle was transporting the radioactive isotope cobalt-60 from a hospital where it was being used for radiotherapy, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
Experts said that if the material gets into the wrong hands it could be turned into a “dirty bomb” and potentially spread cancer-causing radiation across a wide area.
The vehicle was stolen in Tepojaco, near Mexico City, while en route to a radioactive waste storage center on Monday.
"At the time the truck was stolen, the source was properly shielded," the IAEA said in a statement. "However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged."
Mexican authorities are now searching for the truck, which according to local media is a 2.5-ton Volkswagen Worker with an integrated crane. Several newspapers reported that it had been stolen at a gas station.
Jennifer Cole, head of emergency management at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, said the cobalt-60 would be stored in a sealed chamber, known as a “sealed source.”
In the wrong hands, this can be turned into a “dirty bomb,” she said.
“What happens when with a dirty bomb is because they explode the material, each piece of shrapnel is giving off radiation and it is over a large area and much harder to clear up," she said. “More than anything, this can cause panic as there’s a huge amount of fear when radiation or radioactive material is mentioned.”
According to safety guidelines on the IAEA website (http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/SealedRadioactiveSources/sealedradsource1013.pdf), a "malevolent use of radioactive sources…could also cause significant social, psychological and economic impacts.”
There also are many documented cases of people unwittingly stealing or acquiring radioactive material and then becoming ill or dying.
A spokeswoman for the IAEA told NBC News on Wednesday that this could have been the case in Mexico.
A truck carrying "extremely dangerous" radioactive material has been stolen in Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.
The vehicle was transporting the radioactive isotope cobalt-60 from a hospital where it was being used for radiotherapy, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
Experts said that if the material gets into the wrong hands it could be turned into a “dirty bomb” and potentially spread cancer-causing radiation across a wide area.
The vehicle was stolen in Tepojaco, near Mexico City, while en route to a radioactive waste storage center on Monday.
"At the time the truck was stolen, the source was properly shielded," the IAEA said in a statement. "However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged."
Mexican authorities are now searching for the truck, which according to local media is a 2.5-ton Volkswagen Worker with an integrated crane. Several newspapers reported that it had been stolen at a gas station.
Jennifer Cole, head of emergency management at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, said the cobalt-60 would be stored in a sealed chamber, known as a “sealed source.”
In the wrong hands, this can be turned into a “dirty bomb,” she said.
“What happens when with a dirty bomb is because they explode the material, each piece of shrapnel is giving off radiation and it is over a large area and much harder to clear up," she said. “More than anything, this can cause panic as there’s a huge amount of fear when radiation or radioactive material is mentioned.”
According to safety guidelines on the IAEA website (http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/SealedRadioactiveSources/sealedradsource1013.pdf), a "malevolent use of radioactive sources…could also cause significant social, psychological and economic impacts.”
There also are many documented cases of people unwittingly stealing or acquiring radioactive material and then becoming ill or dying.
A spokeswoman for the IAEA told NBC News on Wednesday that this could have been the case in Mexico.