05/12/2013 10:20
Mexico: Stolen radioactive material found
A pair of thieves in Mexico may have stolen more than they bargained for when they targeted a truck this week, CNN reported.
The stolen vehicle was carrying delicate cargo -- a radioactive element used for medical purposes that also can be used to make a so-called dirty bomb.
Mexican authorities said they'd found the stolen truck and at least some of the radioactive cobalt Wednesday in a remote area about 40 km (25 miles) away from where it was taken.
But officials aren't sure whether any of the cobalt is missing, said Juan Eibenschutz Hartman, head of Mexico's National Commission for Nuclear Security and Safeguards.
And the suspected thieves are still on the loose, he said, though authorities expect they could turn up at a clinic suffering symptoms of radiation exposure.
The container holding cobalt was found about a kilometer away from the truck and had been opened, he said.
Authorities are guarding the area and have set up a 500-meter perimeter around it, Eibenschutz said. They are evaluating whether any residents were exposed.
Cleaning up the area could take weeks, he said, because they don't have robotic equipment they would need to quickly collect the dangerous cobalt. They're coming up with a plan and considering asking for help from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United States or Canada.
The IAEA announced the theft on Wednesday.
Mexican authorities told the IAEA that the truck, which was transporting cobalt-60 from a hospital in Tijuana to a radioactive waste storage center, was stolen Monday in Tepojaco, near Mexico City.
An early theory is that the thieves were unaware of what exactly they had taken.
"At the time the truck was stolen, the source was properly shielded," the IAEA said. "However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged."