May 1, 2012

Stolen Radioactive Device Located

Brazil News

| RIO DE JANEIRO – A tip made to the Civil Defense led to the recovery of the car containing a device containing radioactive selenium 75. The car and the device - which were stolen Saturday night - were both recovered, apparently intact, on Tuesday morning.

Civil Defense recovered a stolen Renault Logan which contained radioactive selenium 75 used in the inspection of welds.

Stolen Car Recovered (Photo: G1)

On Monday, the Secretary of State for Civil Defense of Rio de Janeiro said that the public safety services were mobilized to recover the silver Renault Logan containing the radioactive material. The device uses the selenium compound to inspect welds on mega-structures, such as bridges, oil platforms and high-rise buildings – anywhere a bad weld could cause a catastrophic failure.

Contact with the selenium can cause serious risks for those exposed. The mishandling of the material may even lead to death, according to a spokesman for the National Commission of Nuclear Energy.

Police do not believe that the car was targeted for the radioactive material. They believe it was just a common car theft. Other items, such as cash and cameras were taken from the car, which was stolen in an industrial area where car thefts are common.

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Source(s) for this article: G1

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