IAEA Headquarters In Vienna
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear body reports this morning that thieves have made off with a truck in Mexico which was carrying a dangerous radioactive material used in medical treatments. They did not give details on exactly how much of the radioactive source, cobalt-60, was in the truck.
Cobalt 60 can potentially also be used to make the so-called “dirty bombs” everyone hears about where conventional explosives are used to disperse radiation from a radioactive source but did not discuss that in their reporting statement.
The IAEA said it had been informed by Mexican authorities that the truck which was taking the material from a hospital in the northern city of Tijuana to a radioactive waste storage center and was stolen in Tepojaco near mexico City on Monday.
“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 statement said. The IAEA has offered to assist Mexican authorities, who it said were searching for the material and had alerted the public.
I would argue, it would also be extremely dangerous if it were removed from its shielding and used to make such a “dirty bomb” also, but that’s my opinion, and again, the IAEA does not discuss that in the statement. Because radioactive material is easier to obtain, just as in this incident, and the device is easy to manufacture, experts say a dirty bomb is a more likely threat than a nuclear bomb in any terrorists attacks. A dirty bomb is seen as a ‘highly probable, low consequence’ act with more potential to terrorize than to cause large loss of life. More than 100 incidents of thefts and other unauthorized activities involving nuclear and radioactive material are reported to the IAEA annually, the agency said earlier this year.
At a nuclear security summit in 2012, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano specifically singled out cobalt-60 among radioactive sources that could be used for such bombs. “These materials, such as cobalt-60, could be used along with conventional explosives to make so-called dirty bombs. A dirty bomb detonated in a major city could cause mass panic, as well as serious economic and environmental consequences,” Amano said, according to a copy of his speech.
I pray this is not the case in this matter but I urge everyone to consider this, and hundreds of other similar incidents, when discussing a related issue concerning the security of our borders and just exactly how vulnerable we are to such a terrorist attack.