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bighatnohorse's avatar
bighatnohorse
Explorer II
Dec 04, 2013

Truck with radioactive cobolt-60 teletherapy stolen - Mexico

Official story:International Atomic Energy Agency

Release of medical colbalt-60 into the general population has occured several times in the past with serious consequences.
See IAEA publication: http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull472/htmls/lessons_learned.html

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.

The IAEA has made an offer of good offices to Mexico, a process that makes the IAEA available to provide assistance if requested by a Member State, and the IEC remains in contact with the CNSNS.
  • qtla9111's avatar
    qtla9111
    Nomad
    Dec 07, 2013
    Six guys showed up at the hospital, they were then arrested. Appears only one may have been directly exposed to the radiation and has some symptoms. Case closed.

    Juan Eibenschutz, who is the head of the energy ministry, said the issue now is filing charges against the transport company for not having the required GPS and allowing their employees to take a nap by the side of the road without any guards on hand.
  • qtla9111's avatar
    qtla9111
    Nomad
    Dec 05, 2013
    profdant139 wrote:
    And Chris, since this was radioactive material for a chest x-ray machine, you could also say "a lo hecho, pecho." ;)

    Which in English, could be translated as "don't cry over spilt cobalt." Or in this case, maybe go ahead and cry.


    Thanks, a good laugh at 6:30 in the morning. SLDS
  • profdant139's avatar
    profdant139
    Explorer II
    Dec 05, 2013
    And Chris, since this was radioactive material for a chest x-ray machine, you could also say "a lo hecho, pecho." ;)

    Which in English, could be translated as "don't cry over spilt cobalt." Or in this case, maybe go ahead and cry.
  • Tequila's avatar
    Tequila
    Explorer
    Dec 04, 2013
    Except they apparently tried to open it and would have received a large dose of radiation. They are waiting for them to show up at hospital, glowing in the dark.
  • qtla9111's avatar
    qtla9111
    Nomad
    Dec 04, 2013
    Truck was found not far from where it was stolen. Everything intact.
  • qtla9111's avatar
    qtla9111
    Nomad
    Dec 04, 2013
    There are an average of a half-dozen reported thefts of radioactive material in Mexico each year, Eibenschutz said, and none have proven to be intentional, meaning the thieves were not after the material. He said in all cases so far, they were after the containers or vehicles.

    In a famous case in the 1970s of stolen radioactive material in Mexico, one thief died and the other was injured when they opened the container, he said. The container was junked and sold to a foundry, where it contaminated some of the steel reinforcement bar that was made there. Eibenschutz said all foundries in Mexico now have equipment to detect radioactive material.
  • mockturtle's avatar
    mockturtle
    Explorer II
    Dec 04, 2013
    They said on the news this morning that it could be used to make a 'dirty bomb' but they don't know whether or not the perp knew the contents of the truck. My bet is that he did.

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