Truck Carrying Nuclear Waste Stolen

Associated Press:

Thieves in Mexico have stolen a truck containing potentially “extremely dangerous” radioactive material used in medical treatment, the UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday.

The truck was transporting a cobalt-60 teletherapy source from a hospital in the northern city of Tijuana to a radioactive waste storage centre when it was stolen in Tepojaco near Mexico City, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

“At the time the truck was stolen, the source was properly shielded. However, the source could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged,” it said.

The IAEA said it was informed about the December 2 theft by Mexico’s CNSNS nuclear security authority.

“The Mexican authorities are currently conducting a search for the source and have issued a press release to alert the public,” the IAEA said in a statement.

The material could not be used in a conventional nuclear weapon but could in theory be put in a so-called “dirty bomb” — an explosive device spreading the radioactive material over a wide area.

Such a “radiological dispersal device” or RDD would be hugely less lethal than an atomic bomb but is much easier to make and could still cause mass panic.

Experts have long warned about the danger posed by the large amounts of such material held in hospitals, university campuses and factories around the world under often insufficient security.

Last year alone, the IAEA recorded 17 cases of illegal possession and attempts to sell nuclear materials and 24 incidents of theft or loss. It says this is the “tip of the iceberg”.

Many cases have involved parts of the former Soviet Union, such as Chechnya, Georgia and Moldova – where in 2011 several people were arrested trying to sell weapons-grade uranium.

Major international efforts have been made since the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States to prevent nuclear material falling into the wrong hands.

US President Barack Obama hosted a summit in 2010 on the subject which was followed by another one in Seoul last year. A third is planned in The Hague in March 2014.

A report issued in July by the Arms Control Association and the Partnership for Global Security said decent progress had been made reducing the threat but that “significant” work remained.