Mexican Radioactive Material Theft
 

Can you say Dirty Bomb?

Can you say dead thief?

From what I heard on NPR, the material was removed from the shielding, and discarded a ways away from the shielding container. So yes, dead thief, most likely.

Do they use the international radiation symbol in Mexico? I know there's the whole machismo thing in some cultures, but it takes a certain kind of curious cat to open a sealed container with a radioactive symbol on it.

Even an illiterate Mexican thief should be able to figure out what this means:
Attachment 46144

Clearly it means "Day Of The Dead party this way"

Found

Instant karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right in the head
You better get a geiger counter
Levels gonna show in the red

And we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well, we all shine on
Due to ray-dee-ay-shawn

In other news,

Karma, long thought to be a bitch, is really a metal rod.

I still think dirty bomb. Plus a porous border, makes for an interesting situation

So Sarge, you think the cobalt-60 *was not* recovered? Because, there's no dirty with out it, even if somebody does make a bomb.

It means the Heat is ON...

From what I read, it couldn't be determined whether all of the Co-60 was recovered. It sounds like the thieves didn't know what they were handling. If they handed some of the material off to a buyer who DID know, however - things may get hot before long.

They may have been found. Or these two may be collateral damage.

The most obvious statement ever, Captain Obvious.

I'm not sure it was all recovered. It would only take a small device detonated in a mall to create another 9/11 crisis

Hardly. A dirty bomb only makes cleanup nastier. But then the same hype and fear even knew that Saddam had WMDs, that we need to bug everyone to protect everyone, and that torture is good.

This radioactive material does not even have a half life anywhere near to something that makes a serious, dangerous, and difficult to clean up 'dirty' bomb - plutonium.

The theft of radioactive material is a serous and newsworthy event. But one should put facts into perspective rather than use Rush Limbaugh fears that it is another 11 September event. But again, the word 'perspective' applies.

A half life of 5.27 years is quite enough to make clean up very difficult.

maybe Sexobon or Spexxvet or someone can be arsed to do the obvious parody.

I feel a hot wind on my shoulder
And the touch of a world that is older
I turn the switch and check the number
I leave it on when in bed I slumber
I hear the rhythms of the music
I buy the product and never use it
I hear the talking of the DJ
Can't understand just what does he say?

I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican - whoah - radio

I dial it in and tune the station
They talk about the U.S. inflation
I understand just a little
No comprende, it's a riddle

I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio
I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio

I wish I was in Tijuana
Eating barbequed iguana
I'd take requests on the telephone
I'm on a wavelength far from home
I feel a hot wind on my shoulder
I dial it in from south of the border
I hear the talking of the DJ
Can't understand just what does he say?

I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio
I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio

Radio radio... Radio radio... Radio radio...
I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio
I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio
Radio radio... What does he say ?

Difficult is a 'dirty' bomb with plutonium that has a half life of thousands of years and other complicating problems.

When a cloud of the shit spreads across a city, then everyone has to get out while everything is cleaned. Rooves, facades, interiors (where it's been tracked in or the windows were open), storm drains, sewers, utility tunnels, vehicles, garbage cans, everything. That takes time, costs are astronomical, society/business totally disrupted... that's a disaster.

Cobalt is relatively easy to collect by various methods that include halogens and bacteria. However this particular form is no longer used in most medical facilities due to a few safety problems. The most difficult being that this radioactive material can create a dust cloud. The theft created a new problem: people exposed to a radioactive material without knowing it.

Its been sitting for a week in a field where it was discovered. No rush since the threat does not easily spread. Cobalt 60 is mostly a danger to people adjacent to it. A path is being constructed for a robot to recover it.

Cobalt is not nearly the danger created by three exploding nuclear power plants or what is really a concern - a plutonium 'dirty' bomb. Since plutonium does create a serious dust cloud, is not easily recovered, and has a half life of thousands of year.

Fears of plutonium are why nuclear fuels are only reprocessed in few locations and not in the US. Radioactive cobalt does not create same extreme fears, is not an 11 September disaster, but must be respected. It would create a small contaminated area - not an 11 September disaster. Now that its location is known, a major threat (people not knowing it is there) has been eliminated.