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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Radioactive Material Stolen in Nigeria |
| 2003-03-01 |
| A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency is on the ground in Nigeria for what it describes as a "radiological emergency." Sources say radioactive and highly toxic material that could be used to build a "dirty bomb" was stolen from a Nigerian oil company. Ain't that stinkin' wunderbahr? Agency workers arrived Feb. 16, an agency representative said. The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Agency admitted earlier this week that devices used to X-ray oil pipelines for cracks were lost, but officials now believe the disappearance of the material was a "strategic theft." Dunno how you could tell the difference between one flavor of theft and another, unless you're got someone telling you something... Officials could not say whether the material may have been transported out of the country. They did not specify how much material was stolen, but they said it was a significant amount of americium and beryllium. Americium is a synthetic radioactive element produced by the bombardment of plutonium with high-energy neutrons. Beryllium is not radioactive, but it is a highly toxic metallic element used in aerospace alloys, windows in X-ray tubes, and in nuclear reactors. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #5 We'll just have to monitor the local clinincs and see what shows up. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-03-01 18:17:40 |
| #4 Exactly what I thought it was. The beryllium is used as a bonding material for the Americium. There was a serious incident in Argentina when a man picked up a similar source that had fallen out of a truck due to poor materials controls and slipped it into his back pocket: Large chunks of his legs and buttocks died, and he lost his testacles. I attended a class that discussed the incident, and the photos made a few students sick... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-03-01 15:44:27 |
| #3 A little off-topic, but IIRC, ex-Zaire (now Democratic Rep. of Congo) used to have one quite functionnal, french-technology, nuclear plant, possibly the only one in Africa, and the region is not exactly very stable, either. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-01 11:25:56 |
| #2 Looks like we'll be getting new "Business Proposals" from Abacha and Co very soon. Like "Sir, I sollicit your help with transporting Americium out of the country. You will keep 30 percent of it..." |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-03-01 09:50:46 |
| #1 Given that this is Nigeria, terrorists stealing it can be put down the list. 1. Stolen by someone who has no idea wht it is. Rationale: folks there are constantly blowing themselves up tapping into pipelines to steal gas. Lots of people who don't have quite enough technical savvy. They think they can fence it or break it apart for scrap metal. 2. Stolen for ransom. Or to blackmail the company into hiring the appropriate tribe or sex or religion. Rationale: previous occupations of facilities by tribesmen for such purposes. 3. Stolen to be sold by people who know what it is. High tech theft by knowledgable crooks. 4. Terrorists |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-03-01 09:03:40 |