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Mexico's Stolen Radiation Truck: It Could Happen In the US

Posted by timothy on from the every-moral-panic-is-the-very-worst-one dept.

Lasrick writes "Tom Bielefeld, a physicist specializing in nuclear security, writes a detailed article that has some surprising revelations about nuclear security in the U.S. (and elsewhere). Although some security measures have been tightened since 9/11, the US does not require transports of category-1 to be protected by armed guards, and individual states don't have to provide lists of 'safe havens' to the transport company (and they often don't). And at hospitals and other buildings that house radioactive materials and devices, 'security conditions remain hair-raising, even when these facilities have been checked by inspectors.'"

16 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. At a NY Hospital a few decades ago... by Etherwalk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    radioactive gold kept disappearing. After a while a staff member's wife or fiance turned up and had radiation poisoning to her hand--someone was taking the gold to make a wedding ring, and didn't know it was radioactive.

    I'm sure security is a little better than it was then, but small amounts of radioactive material will probably always be gettable.

  2. NIMBY by Runaway1956 · · Score: 4, Informative

    No way. Couldn't happen here! Not in a million years. Someone is smoking some really strange shit to think we could just lose some radioactive material here in the US of A.

    Oh - wait. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2...

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    1. Re:NIMBY by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, sure, our totally incompetent government workers could lose track of nuclear materials, but if we simply entrust this stuff to private corporations, all our problems will go away.

      Oh, wait....

      http://stateimpact.npr.org/tex...

      --
      Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
    2. Re:NIMBY by AJWM · · Score: 2

      It depends.

      I'll agree with you where management of said private corporations is less than usually psychopathic or where regulatory inspections are frequent and/or the cost of doing it right is not dramatically more than taking shortcuts.

      Where there's more money to be made by taking those shortcuts, and management doesn't care about public consequences or thinks the risk of getting caught is low, then government can (not necessarily will, depending) do a better job because there's no profit bottom line to worry about. Indeed, doing a proper job may well mean a bigger staff and budget which is a plus to bureaucrats.

      --
      -- Alastair
    3. Re:NIMBY by sjames · · Score: 2

      The media does a great job glossing over a fundamental problem with dirty bombs. You have to shield it well enough to get it to it's deployment before it kills you, but it then has to disperse it's contents widely to be even vaguely effective.

      The shielding also has to protect the detonator so it still works by the time it's supposed to go off.

      As we have seen, a truck full of ANFO is fairly easy to come up with and sends a rather loud message without radiation.

    4. Re:NIMBY by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 2

      Your average doctor or dentist won't have a radioactive source (a chunk of a radioactive isotope such as the Co-60 stolen in Mexico), only an X-ray machine.

      The source in an X-ray machine is a specialized vacuum tube that is completely inert and harmless unless connected to power supplies and energized. Of absolutely no value for building a "dirty bomb" or whatever...

      --
      Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
  3. FEAR! by aesiamun · · Score: 4, Funny

    Control the populous with fear! Let's figure out a way to make them even more afraid of nuclear power so we can continue selling snakeoil solutions like solar and wind energy products.

    1. Re:FEAR! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Informative

      Aside from the (rare, mostly found in spacecraft or from the golden age of 'soviets + radioisotopes = even crazier party than americans + radioisotopes') radiothermal generators, the sealed sources of the type being fretted about are pretty much entirely unrelated to nuclear power generation...

      There is periodic fretting about security at nuclear generating facilities; but those are relatively scarce, relatively centralized, and, while they do deal in pretty large amounts of radioactive material compared to most other users, need stuff shipped hither and yon only infrequently.

      The industrial, scientific, and medical emitters are comparatively puny; but there are lots and lots of them, scattered all over the place, and relatively frequently shipped around.

      Essentially unrelated applications with only minimal overlap in risk.

    2. Re:FEAR! by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      How you can equate medical/industrial isotope capsules with nuclear power generation is another question. (Hint: you really can't, but it's so difficult to pass an opportunity for trolling, right?)

      But the people who want to frighten the general public away from nuclear power just need to get "unsafe" and "nuclear" together in the same headline.

      Your average layman isn't going to make the distinction between nuclear power plants and radioisotopes used in medicine when he sees that "unsafe" and "nuclear" together...

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    3. Re:FEAR! by aesiamun · · Score: 2

      Inefficient, expensive products that are not going to be subsidized forever...It is not the future.

      We cannot live off of solar alone. It is a good companion, but 100% solar is a dream. Nuclear is proven and newer technologies are safe. The energy consortium does not want people using nuclear because it makes them irrelevant with backyard nukes being actively researched and developed today. Let's sell the concept that it's dangerous...that's why we're seeing nuclear 'fallout' in California from Fukushima in the news.

      Let's make everyone scared.

  4. The TSA is ON IT! by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't worry. The TSA has this all under control. They are now requiring the drivers of these transports to take their shoes off when they get into the cab. So, problem solved!

    --
    When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  5. Must not have thought the marriage would last... by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 5, Funny

    According the Wikipedia, the longest-lived radioactive gold isotope is Au-195, with a half life of only 186 days.

    --
    Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
  6. Radioactive paranoia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sheese. The Threat of the Month club. Every hospital in the world has mildly radioactive material. Even bananas are slightly radioactive. Even worse, many homes contain highly explosive natural gas. Even more worser, we are all being poisoned by bread containing gluten. Get a grip.

    1. Re:Radioactive paranoia by PPH · · Score: 2

      According to this, they were arrested and taken to a hospital with one individual showing signs of possible rad. poisoning.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  7. Huh by koan · · Score: 2

    With the billions poured into "security" I'm left with the assumption that this is done on purpose, how else do you explain such a glaring error:?

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  8. Re:Must not have thought the marriage would last.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yeah, this sounded like bunk to me to, but I found some real facts. The rings were made from gold beads which had been filled with radon and implanted in people. It's the radon decay products causing the radiation, not the gold. Here's a real journal article about this problem.