This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/04/lorry-radioactive-material-mexico-stolen

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Truck carrying radioactive material stolen in Mexico Lorry carrying radioactive material stolen in Mexico
(about 5 hours later)
Thieves have stolen a truck in Mexico carrying a dangerous radioactive material used in medical treatments, the UN atomic watchdog has said. Police were scouring central Mexico on Wednesday for a stolen lorry which was carrying dangerous radioactive medical material that could provide an ingredient for a dirty bomb.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is based in Vienna, said it had been informed by Mexican authorities that the truck, which was transporting cobalt-60 from a hospital in the northern city of Tijuana to a radioactive waste storage centre, was stolen in Tepojaco near Mexico City on Monday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been informed by Mexican authorities that the lorry was stolen on Monday – apparently by common thieves – while taking cobalt-60 from a hospital in the northern city of Tijuana to a radioactive-waste storage centre.
"At the time the truck was stolen, the [radioactive] source was properly shielded. However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged," the IAEA said on Wednesday. Mexican authorities said the lorry was seized when the driver stopped at a petrol station in the town of Temascalapa, 20 miles north-east of Mexico City.
The IAEA has offered to assist Mexican officials, who are searching for the material and have alerted the public. They said the thieves were likely to be criminals unaware of the lorry's radioactive cargo. Truck hijacking is common in Mexico and the theft did not occur in a drug cartel stronghold.
"Our suspicion is that they had no idea what they had stolen. This is an area where robberies are common," said a spokesman for prosecutors.
Mexico's national nuclear safety commission CNSNS said on Wednesday that local, state and federal police were searching a six-state swath of central Mexico, including Mexico City, for the material.
It 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".
Apart from peaceful medical and industrial applications, experts say cobalt-60 can also be used in a dirty bomb, in which conventional explosives disperse radiation from a radioactive source.
The IAEA, which has stepped up calls on member states to tighten security to prevent nuclear and radioactive materials from falling into the wrong hands, did not say how much radioactive material was in the lorry. Cobalt-60 is used inside a teletherapy device to treat cancer.
The most common radioactive isotope of the metal cobalt, it has many applications in industry and in radiotherapy. It is also used for industrial radiography to detect structural flaws in metal parts. Exposure to gamma radiation from cobalt-60 results in an increased risk of cancer.
"At the time the truck was stolen, the (radioactive) source was properly shielded. However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged," the IAEA said in a statement.
The IAEA has offered to assist Mexican authorities in the search.
In 2000, three people died in Thailand after a cobalt-60 teletherapy unit was sold as scrap metal and ended up atn a junkyard. About 1,870 people living nearby were exposed to "some elevated level of radiation", according to the IAEA.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.