Reuters just reported that radioactive material, Ir-192, was stolen last November from a facility in southern Basra.
The IAEA said the missing “Ir-192 radioactive source in a shielding container” was classified as a Category 2 radioactive substance that, if not managed properly, could be fatal to someone exposed for a period of hours to days.—NBC News
A U.S. oil field contracting company, Weatherford, was in possession of the material at the time it was taken. The radioactive material is described to be large enough to be stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer.
“Weatherford said in a statement that it was not responsible or liable for the theft. “We do not own, operate or control sources or the bunker where the sources are stored,” it said. The material, which uses gamma rays to test flaws in materials used for oil and gas pipelines in a process called industrial gamma radiography, is owned by Istanbul-based SGS Turkey, according to the document and officials.”—Reuters
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