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2010-04-13 India-Pakistan

Radioactive Cobalt in India: Terrorist Act?

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Posted by Elder of Zion 2010-04-13 04:18|| || Front Page|| [11131 views ] Top

#1 Probably just sloppy handling of scrap metal, but shows how easy it would be to get material to build a dirty bomb.

Posted by Glenmore 2010-04-13 07:50|| 2010-04-13 07:50|| Front Page Top

#2 A high rad pencil of Cobalt 60 is used for radiometric scanning of welds of very thick metal to detect weld flaws. I think it was in argentina where the wire holding such a pencil broke. the pencil fell out of the lead pig shielding transporting it and it rolled out the back door of the van carrying it. It looked so cool a guy picked it up and put it into his back pocket.

His entire family had to be treated for radiation burns. He himself lost the "family jewels" and a goodly portion of the buttock under the pocket into which the pencil was deposited. I saw the photos of before and after the surgery: not pleasant at all.

Posted by Ptah 2010-04-13 08:14|| http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org 2010-04-13 08:14|| Front Page Top

#3 Agreed. This seems historically to be an occupational hazard for scrap metal.
http://www.allbusiness.com/manufacturing/fabricated-metal-product-manufacturing/261868-1.html

Posted by Black Bart Ebberens7700 2010-04-13 08:57|| 2010-04-13 08:57|| Front Page Top

#4 There's an awful lot of that stuff floating around in the 3rd world because it is very useful, but their governments have yet to put strict controls on its disposal. It is used both to sterilize food and medical equipment.

Cobalt 60 has a half life of only 5.27 years, so is pretty depleted after 10 years.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-04-13 09:35|| 2010-04-13 09:35|| Front Page Top

#5 Google 'contaminated Mexican steel incident', a fascinating story. I first read it in the 1980's and it just stuck in my memory: Date: 6 December 1983-February 1984

Location: Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Type of event: dispersal of lost radioactive source

Description:

A scrap yard in Ciudad Juarez obtained a used medical teletherapy unit containing about 6,000 1-millimeter pellets of cobalt-60, totalling over 400 curies. On 6 December the source container was deliberately ruptured, scattering pellets throughout the yard. A magnetic loader further dispersed the pellets, many of which ended up in scrap metal converted into steel products around 10 December. Products included steel rebar from a Chihuahua plant, table pedestals from Falcon Products Company in Juarez (some of both items were shipped to the USA), products from a foundry in Torreon, and products from a producer in Guadalajara. The contamination was undetected until 16 January 1984, when a truck carrying contaminated rebar took a wrong turn at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico, triggering automatic radiation sensors. Later that day five other trucks carrying contaminated steel were stopped at a border crossing at El Paso, Texas. Efforts to collect contaminated steel progressed over the next few weeks, with about 500 to 931 tons estimated to have entered the USA. In late January contaminated steel was traced to a table manufacturer in St. Louis, Missouri, and 2,500 castings were recalled from 40 states and replaced; most tables were in warehouses but some were removed from restaurants. In February Mexican authorities reported 3 or 4 individuals had received doses of 100 to 450 rem. The U.S. DOE assisted Mexico in aerial surveys 20-26 March which identified 21 contaminated areas. One contaminated pickup truck was found in a residential neighborhood with children playing in it. In Sinaloa Mexican authorities demolished 109 houses built with contaminated rebar. One worker subsequently died of bone cancer, with another 4 injured. A total of at least 10 individuals received significant exposures.

Consequences: 1 fatality, 4 injuries
I searched Google a bit for a full report, didn't find a free one. The discovery of the contamination seemed almost accidental/providential.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-04-13 12:03|| 2010-04-13 12:03|| Front Page Top

#6 Source for my previous comment

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-04-13 12:04|| 2010-04-13 12:04|| Front Page Top

Wanted for questioning.

/Damn, dirty apes

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2010-04-13 12:57|| 2010-04-13 12:57|| Front Page Top

#8 What's the the spastic ALL CAPS headline and double question marks? Moderators?

Posted by gromky 2010-04-13 13:27|| 2010-04-13 13:27|| Front Page Top

#9 I don't know about any of the other moderators, gromky, but I don't know how to change headlines once they've been published. Since nobody caught it in time, we're stuck for all eternity... or at least until the back-up and the back-up of the back-up crash simultaneously and irretrievably.

Posted by trailing wife 2010-04-13 15:15|| 2010-04-13 15:15|| Front Page Top

23:32 trailing wife
23:11 JosephMendiola
23:10 OldSpook
23:04 OldSpook
23:02 abu do you love
23:00 JosephMendiola
22:58 Barbara Skolaut
22:56 OldSpook
22:55 Barbara Skolaut
22:53 trailing wife
22:50 JosephMendiola
22:47 JosephMendiola
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22:09 Pappy
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21:57 Frank G
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21:35 Asymmetrical