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Medical Radioactive Material Truck Stolen In Mexico
An anonymous reader writes "A medical radioactive material truck has been stolen just outside Mexico City. From the article: 'BBC world affairs correspondent Rajesh Mirchandani says Cobalt-60 could theoretically be used in a so-called "dirty bomb" - an explosive device that could spread radioactive material over a wide area - although there is no official suggestion this was the purpose of the theft. Mexican police are currently conducting a search for the truck and its contents and have issued a press release to alert the public to its potential dangers.'"
Kind of embarrassing for Slashdot to post this now, considering the truck has already been found. Apparently the container was opened, but it appears (at least most of) the Cobalt-60 is still intact.
Considering the infrastructure and expense required to ship something like this (special shielded containers, etc), why don't they include a tracking device? Even a cheapo cell phone can be used as a tracking device, which is better than nothing.
Better known as 318230.
Too slow on this one, it's already been recovered:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25224304
Probably stolen by people who didn't know what it contained.
You're too late.
Next story.
Just wow. The mainstream news articles confirming that the radioactive material was located were posted more than a half hour ago.
1984, Ciudad Juarez: http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/radevents/1983MEX1.html
You're telling me that the contents of a medical supply truck could be dangerous?!
... er ... part of a bomb?
... news? Not really. Someone might look in the fridge and say "Hey, I've got the ingredients for Nachos, lets have Nachos". But even crazy people don't say "Hey, I just HAPPEN to have the ingredients for a dirty bomb. Why don't we do that instead of the other bombs we were going to build?".
Oh wait, you're telling me they're VERY dangerous? As in, more lethal than lethal? More poisonous than poison? More toxic than
Sorry. The hijack and theft of a supply truck, in an area of the world known for theft and hijacking isn't news. Sure, it's dangerous and bad. But
A dirty bomb isn't a crime of opportunity, any more than another type of bomb. Let's not pretend otherwise.
- Nec Impar Pluribus, or so I'm told.
The NSA tracked it.
They just responded to the Mexican's request for information with a redacted report saying:
It's located right [XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX].
Good luck [XXXXXXXXXXXX] your [XXXXXXXXXXXX].
NSA
Probably just some poor country whom developed countries have told cannot have nuclear material, despite the fact we use it every day for medicine.
I knew a post-doc that worked with the stuff at the University of Chicago. One thing they tested with it was to see how long a rat would live being exposed to it. They had some kind of lead door between the rat and the source..I don't remember the specific number, but it wasn't all that long-- probably renal failure due to their kidneys not being able to handle such a massive amount of cell death... The exposure rate constant of Cobalt-60 is 1,350mR-m^2 / hr-Ci, and has a half life of 5.27 years. I wonder if the guys that opened it up are experiencing radiation sickness?
Glad it was already found.
To understand the risks that this type of events involve check what happened in Brazil several years ago when radioactive medical material went missing and ended up killing several people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident
I recalled this incident when I heard that story today. Some brain dead hospital admins left a machine with Caesium 137 in the hospital after it had been closed and abandoned. It was stolen and eventually ended up in the hands of people who had no idea what it was.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident
The most chilling part is the little kid who painted designs on her chest with it.
(!!!!)
Hugh Pickens is the boss. :)
They found it with a detector and they say that people who manipulated the box will die because of the exposure. Nobody else is in risk.
in Mexico? Even if they have cell coverage how good is it as weak ones can drain batteries fast.
Why would you insult the meta-moderation script like that? How is a script supposed to know which articles are time-sensitive? Oh, were you under the impression that some human is involved in choosing stories, aside from us users who hit the meta-mod page once a month? I don't see any sign of intelligent life.
"The container holding cobalt was found about a kilometer away from the truck and had been opened, he said." ..."At around 1 a.m. Monday, a man armed with a handgun knocked on the passenger window. When the passenger rolled down his window, the gunman demanded the keys to the vehicle, Morales said. Both the driver and his assistant were taken to an empty lot where they were bound and told not to move. They heard one of the assailants use a walkie-talkie type device or phone to tell someone, "It's done," Morales said." http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04/world/americas/mexico-radioactive-theft/ [cnn.com]
israel needs to do another large scale terror attack to get americans scared again!
TSA in cooperation with DEA and ATF elements is paying Mexican Drug Cartel Bosses $$$$$ to circumvent USA Boarder Policies and Airline Trans-Boarder Rules in order to Elevate TSA into a Cabinet Level Agency.
Unfortunate. A one Mr. called John Pistol, Former Lap Dog to Homeland (In)Security Agency Director Janet "Ass As Big As A Planet" Napolitano or what ever the dumb fuck calls her or itself now, is "out of luck!" per Federal Gov. Employes in the know.
Uh Oh!
There goes John boys' 401(k) retirement plan!
And, Uh Oh, there goes Jon boys' bi-weekly pay-check. OUCH!
ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE WITHOUT PAY ... hotel hell in California they say.
Just on the Micky ... If you are driving along the the Washington Beltway and see a deshevled man lurking about ... Its John ... please do not bother him in his Holy Quest for the "Grail" as he gets quiet edgy and testy at such moments.
Just ... run'm down ... and don't bother ... i.e. don't look back in the rear-view-mirror.
Ha Ha.
Good luck finding your truck.
Good luck identifying your radioactives.
Good luck prosecuting your hijackers.
Good luck verbing your noun.
If a dirty radiological bomb is set off and panick subsequentely kill people, you can point the finger at journalist and media not doing their proper job to inform people about the real risk.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
But what about his nemesis?:
http://www.window.state.tx.us/border/ch09/cobalto.html
"In the prison where he still awaits sentencing, the guards call him El Cobalto - the Cobalt Man."
for "Machete Kills Again"!
It seems that first the truck was hijacked on the road just as the same way many other trucks are raided by crime on interstate roads. But once the robbers found what was in the cargo box, they abbandoned the truck near a small village.
Later some poor guys found the truck and opened the box, and thought the odd shape device was some kind of truck part and took it to their near workshop to sell it as scrap metal.
The army was already looking for the missing truck and when found it then followed the tracks to the village and found again the nuclear core abbandoned in a field, it seems the guys tried to discard it again.
Recent reports indicate that the zone is quarantined since the radioactive core was extracted from the protective transport encase and not sure if there is a radioactive leak but news are reporting the guys that found it are ill or even agonizing.
I feel bad for the thieves actually; this almost like the start of a scifi movie. The thieves apparently just wanted to steal the truck, not realizing what the cargo was. When they looked through the cargo, they probably didn't know what it was, so they just popped open the containment unit, apparently took the Cobalt-60 out by hand, and dumped it in a field. Those poor sods might have picked up a lethal dose of radiation; the news was saying direct exposure could lead to death in just one to three days. Stolen Cobalt-60 Found Abandoned In Mexico
Who is "Hugh Pickens"?
Now if you were talking about HUGH PICKENS DOT COM, well then I could get behind you on that!