Mexican Radioactive Material Theft

[xoxoxoBruce]

Mexico has informed the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) of the theft of a truck carrying a dangerous radioactive source used in medical treatment.

Mexico's "Comisión Nacional de Seguridad Nuclear y Salvaguardias (CNSNS)" said the truck, which was transporting the cobalt-60 teletherapy source from a hospital in the northern city of Tijuana to a radioactive waste storage centre, was stolen in Tepojaco near Mexico City at around 08:00 UTC on 2 December 2013.

At the time the truck was stolen, the source was properly shielded. However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged.

The Mexican authorities are currently conducting a search for the source and have issued a press release to alert the public.

Can you say Dirty Bomb?

[tw]

Can you say dead thief?

[Happy Monkey]

However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged.

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.

[glatt]

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.

On February 15, 2007, two bodies—the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)—jointly announced the adoption of a new ionizing radiation warning symbol ..... The new symbol is not intended to be generally visible, but rather to appear on internal components of devices that house radiation sources so that if anybody attempts to disassemble such devices they will see an explicit warning not to proceed any further

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

[monster]

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

[Undertoad]

Found

The cobalt-60 was found, removed from its casing, in a rural area near the town of Hueypoxtla, about 25 miles from where the truck was stolen. Jimenez said he suspected that curiosity got the better of the thieves, and they opened the box. So far the carjackers have not been arrested, but authorities expect they will not live long.

“The people who handled it will have severe problems with radiation,” he said. “They will, without a doubt, die.”

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

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Found

“They will, without a doubt, die.”

The most obvious statement ever, Captain Obvious.

[BigV]

In other news,

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

[Big Sarge]

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

[BigV]

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.

[JBKlyde]

It means the Heat is ON...

[orthodoc]

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.

[Happy Monkey]

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

A teenager and a young man have been hospitalized with radiation symptoms in a central Mexican state where stolen radioactive material was recovered, authorities said Friday.

[Big Sarge]

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

[tw]

Originally Posted by Big Sarge

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.