Container of Radioactive Material Stolen In Mexico Found.... But Found Empty
Material Found?

A cargo truck ferrying dangerously radioactive material was hijacked in Mexico.

The truck was carrying a metal container of cobalt-60 headed to a nuclear waste facility in the state of Mexico, said Juan Eibenschutz, director general of the National Commission of Nuclear Safety and Safeguards....

Direct exposure would result in death within a few minutes, he added.

"This is a radioactive source that is very strong," Eibenschutz told The Associated Press on Wednesday, adding that is can be almost immediately fatal, depending on proximity. "The intensity is very big if it is broken."

Eibenschutz didn't know the exact weight, but that it was the largest amount stolen in recent memory, and the intensity of the material caused the alert. Local, state and federal authorities, including the military, are searching for the tr

...

The thieves likely didn't know what the truck was carrying, he said, and may have discarded the metal container, which he said is about a meter square.

Yeah, the update casts doubt on that appraisal.

"If someone finds a big chunk of metal with radiation symbols all over it, they should notify us immediately and don't open it," Eibenschutz said.

Hm-hm.

The driver of the truck was doing his level-best to combat stereotypes about Mexicans when he was hijacked:

He said told authorities he was sleeping in the truck when two men armed with a gun approached about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Authorities have now found the container which formerly held the radioactive material -- but the container was empty.

Why would they take the material out of the container? Given that the container exists to shield nearby people from lethal radiation?

That's extremely dangerous. Either leave the container behind if you don't want it at all, or, if you're looking to sell the material, keep it in the container as you move it.

I can only think of one reason for moving the material out of the container: Because they suspected (wrongly, it turns out) that the container had some kind of electronic tracker in it. So they swapped the radioactive material into their own container.

Which is alarming. Because that means they cane prepared, and were looking specifically for nuclear material. Which means they have specific plans for the material.

Update: My alarmism might have been premature. I had skipped this story, based on the 24 hour rule, but became alarmed to hear it had been moved out of its containers.

Now I see Brandon Darby tweeting the material itself has been found 1 kilometer from the container:

I'm not sure that update is accurate, though: The FoxNews piece, stating that the container was found but not the material it once held, is very recent (updated three minutes ago as I type this). So I don't know about this new claim that the material has been recovered as well.

Update: Live on FoxNews, they're saying the container was found empty, but not the material, which is what I originally thought. I think this tweet about the material being found is just wrong, or at least it's unconfirmed.

BBC: Material Has Been Found, But "Its Condition Remains Unclear." What does that mean? I have no idea myself.

Updated Again: FoxNews Reports Mexican Officials Saying the Material Has Been Recovered.

posted by Ace at 06:30 PM

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