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Discarded Strontium-90 Found in ex-USSR

Posted by michael on from the bedwarmer dept.

andaru writes: "The BBC is running this story about discarded canisters of strontium-90 found in the woods in Georgia, ex-USSR. It goes on to mention the possibility of a "dirty bomb," which would contaminate a large populated area (like cracking one open in the Great Lakes)." Some simple advice: if you find a random container, anywhere, that has melted the surrounding snow, don't mess with it, mmmkay?

2 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Scrapped Irradiation Equipment? by hughk · · Score: 3, Informative
    Nuclear materials are used every day for medical purposes and for metallurgical inspection. These are not microsources as used in smoke-detectors. These are serious.

    The nuclear material is usually well protected in metal cylinders, which are also quite nice for use as scrap. In one documented case, the scrap ended up in table legs.

    It was only discovered after a truck that had contained the tables passed through a detector at a control point after making an unrelated delivery as Los Alamos. There have been similar documented incidents of contamination in Brazil, Thailand and Turkey as well as others.

    I'm not bothering to post all the links. There are too many.

    --
    See my journal, I write things there
  2. Thermoelectric Generator by Slashamatic · · Score: 3, Informative
    Strontium 90 is used in Radio-Isotope Thermoelectric generators (I guess that it why the snow was melted). The is an FAQ about the disposal of SR-90 RTGs in the US here. It is a government site and given current paranoia, I don't know how long it will stay up.

    It is nasty stuff, being chemically similar to calcium. It is therefore absorbed by the body and used in bones.