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Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
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Author:  Rumpole [ Wed Dec 04, 2013 9:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
Mexico finds stolen truck that carried radioactive material: official
By Fredrik Dahl and Lizbeth Diaz
VIENNA/MEXICO CITY Wed Dec 4, 2013 6:35pm EST

(Reuters) - Mexican police have found a truck they suspect was stolen by common thieves and carried a dangerous radioactive medical material the United Nations said could provide an ingredient for a "dirty bomb," a government official said.

The truck was found on Wednesday close to where it was stolen outside Mexico City, said the official, who asked not to be identified in line with policy. He could not confirm whether the cargo was aboard.

The truck was stolen on Monday while it was taking cobalt-60 from a hospital in the northern city of Tijuana to a radioactive waste-storage center, Mexican officials and the UN agency said earlier.

The vehicle was seized when the driver stopped at a gas station in the town of Temascalapa, 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Mexico City.

Mexican officials say the thieves were likely common criminals unaware of the truck's radioactive cargo. Truck hijacking is common in Mexico and the theft occurred in the State of Mexico, which is not a drug cartel stronghold.

"Our suspicion is that they had no idea what they had stolen. This is a area where robberies are common," Fernando Hidalgo, spokesman for the Hidalgo state prosecutor, said earlier.

Mexico's national nuclear safety commission CNSNS published photographs of the cargo as it was being prepared for shipment, showing a reinforced case containing the medical device, which holds the radioactive material and which looks like part of a car axle. The box is marked with the hospital's name and "radioactive materials."

...more at link
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/ ... J820131204
Author:  Rumpole [ Wed Dec 04, 2013 9:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
Stolen radioactive material in Mexico found, no risk to population, official says
Published December 04, 2013
FoxNews.com

Stolen radioactive material that was reported missing in Mexico early Wednesday has been recovered and there's no risk to the surrounding population, a Mexico official said.

The highly radioactive material was found in an empty lot about a half a mile from Hueypoxtla, an agricultural town of about 4,000 people, but it poses no threat or a need for an evacuation, said Juan Eibenschutz, director general of the National Commission of Nuclear Safety and Safeguards.

"Fortunately, there are no people where the source of radioactivity is," Eibenschutz said.

...more at link
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/12/04 ... in-mexico/
Author:  Rumpole [ Wed Dec 04, 2013 9:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
Latest reports say the stolen truck etc has been found but it is FAR FROM CLEAR if authorities have recovered the radioactive material itself?
Author:  Rumpole [ Wed Dec 04, 2013 10:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
Mexico radioactive material found, thieves' lives 'in danger'
5 December 2013 Last updated at 02:04 GMT

Dangerous radioactive medical material taken when a truck was stolen in Mexico has been found, local officials say.

The material - cobalt-60 - was removed from a protective casing and then abandoned nearby.

The thieves may have been exposed to life-threatening radiation levels, but there is no health risk for local residents, the officials say.

The material and the truck were found close to where they had been stolen near Mexico City on Monday.

'Extremely dangerous'

The radioactive material was discovered near the town of Hueypoxtla, officials from Mexico's National Nuclear Security Commission (NNSC) said. It was barely 2km (1.4 miles) from where the truck had been stolen.

"We found the radioactive source removed from its container and left between 500 and 700 metres," NNSC official Mardonio Jimenez said.

But he warned that whoever had opened could die "because the source's intensity is very high".

"They will eventually have to go to a hospital, and we'll be waiting for them," Mr Jimenez said.

He stressed that the radioactive material was now in the hands of the authorities.

The military has now sealed off the area.
BBM

...more at link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25224304
Author:  Rumpole [ Wed Dec 04, 2013 10:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
It seems the panic is over?
Author:  BertaBlue [ Thu Dec 05, 2013 8:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
Yes, so it seems, still very scarey. ~sigh~ no GPS on truck. It still remains to be seen if anyone near the "found area" will be effected. I think because they don't know how long it was exposed, wind, etc. Some articles claimed it all was recovered others say MOST, so who knows? But whoever did it is probably gonna be very sick!
Author:  seeing_eye [ Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
I heard that they had not yet recovered the radioactive substance because it was too dangerous to send people close to it. I heard they may have to use robots, but Mexico does not have any robots. May have to get help from the US.
Author:  packy [ Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
It's a shame that we can't even rely on the contradictory information out there as to whether it's been totally recovered and how much people in the area will be affected.
Author:  BertaBlue [ Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dangerous Radioactive Waste Stolen In Mexico
we may never know!
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