TRUCK CARRYING RADIOACTIVE SOURCE STOLEN IN MEXICO

A truck carrying a surplus radioactive medical source was stolen in Mexico earlier this week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday. Mexico’s National Commission on Nuclear Safety and Safeguards (NCNSS) informed the IAEA that the truck carrying a cobalt-60 teletherapy source from a hospital in Tijuana to a radioactive waste storage center was stolen near Mexico City Dec. 2. The IAEA said the source was properly shielded when the truck was stolen, but it said it could be “extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged.” If the source fell into the hands of a terrorist, the material could be used to construct a dirty bomb, but Juan Eibenschutz, the director general of NCNSS, told the Associated Press there was no evidence that the terrorists were involved in the heist. More likely, he said the truck carrying the source was the target of the thieves.