Truck carrying Cobalt-60 stolen in Mexico...dirty bomb anyone?

It seems the truck was stolen at a gas station in Mexico and it contains nuclear material meant for disposal. Now, one of two things happened here.

1. Truck was simply stolen and when contents are realized the glowing bandits will leave it somewhere.
2. Truck was stolen in a planned operation to get components for producing a dirty bomb.

This could be cartel, terrorists or an op planned by foriegn nationals but on thing is sure, Cobalt-60 is nasty stuff. Want to make sure no one goes to Vegas or LA for the next 100 years or so just detonate this with conventional explosives and you have a major event on your hands.


LInk to Story

A search was underway in six Mexican states and in Mexico City for the white Volkswagen Worker truck, the CNSNS said in a statement. It gave phone numbers for anyone with information to call and released photos of the steel-reinforced wooden crate carrying the material.

Experts have long warned about the risks posed by the large amounts of radioactive material held in hospitals, university campuses and factories, often with little or no security measures to prevent them being stolen.

What are your takes on this? I mean, it is not like this is something that is very marketable....

If it wasn't deliberate it makes you wonder what the glowing bandits thought they were stealing.

Anyone that's stupid or evil enough to build a "Dirty Bomb" could simply acquire the Americium used in most household smoke detectors, so no need to go stealing vans full of Cobalt 60.

All you would do is draw attention to yourself and thats hardly something any would be terrorist desires now is it?

Well, they might have simply been stealing a truck hoping for a shipment of something they could sell on the black market.

Are they going to get an unpleasant surprise when they crack that baby open.

Presuming, of course, they didn't know precisely what they were stealing.

reply to post by ketsuko


That would be my thinking also.

matafuchs
It seems the truck was stolen at a gas station in Mexico and it contains nuclear material meant for disposal. Now, one of two things happened here.

1. Truck was simply stolen and when contents are realized the glowing bandits will leave it somewhere.
2. Truck was stolen in a planned operation to get components for producing a dirty bomb.

This could be cartel, terrorists or an op planned by foriegn nationals but on thing is sure, Cobalt-60 is nasty stuff. Want to make sure no one goes to Vegas or LA for the next 100 years or so just detonate this with conventional explosives and you have a major event on your hands.


LInk to Story

A search was underway in six Mexican states and in Mexico City for the white Volkswagen Worker truck, the CNSNS said in a statement. It gave phone numbers for anyone with information to call and released photos of the steel-reinforced wooden crate carrying the material.

Experts have long warned about the risks posed by the large amounts of radioactive material held in hospitals, university campuses and factories, often with little or no security measures to prevent them being stolen.

What are your takes on this? I mean, it is not like this is something that is very marketable....

We need a picture of the vehicle. Also, if a truck with such waste is out on the road... shouldn't there be fail safe. ecspecially for crashes, so this # wouldn't do any harm unless opened by some special key?

reply to post by andy06shake


I remember reading an article on the smoke detectors but you would need to disassemble something like a million units to make it effective. That is some work even for cave dwellers.

There are thefts a lot more often than reported of construction and medical pieces containing radioactive parts. You do something like this and it is in a sense plug and play to finalize a weapon of that nature if you are at a certain stage.

..got this from another news source

The white Volkswagen cargo truck marked "Transportes Ortiz" was headed from Tijuana to a nuclear storage facility in central Mexico and was taken from a gas station in Tepojaco, in Hidalgo state north of Mexico City.

Driver Valentin Escamilla Ortiz told authorities he left Tijuana on Nov. 28 and was resting in the truck overnight when two men armed with a gun approached the truck about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. They made him get out, tied his hands and feet and left him in a vacant lot nearby.

It was from a State Run medical facility so it is something that someone on the inside could have tracked.

It is sealed in lead so unless someone breaks into it there is no risk.

andy06shake
Anyone that's stupid or evil enough to build a "Dirty Bomb" could simply acquire the Americium used in most household smoke detectors, so no need to go stealing vans full of Cobalt 60.

All you would do is draw attention to yourself and thats hardly something any would be terrorist desires now is it?

edit on 4-12-2013 by andy06shake because: (no reason given)

While I would say that AM-214 is safe to handle, it is safe as long as it is not ingested or particles breathed. It would be a waste of time to try to create a dirty bomb using AM-241.

Americium-241 decays by alpha emission, with a by-product of gamma rays. Its presence in plutonium is determined by the original concentration of plutonium-241 and the sample age. Because of the low penetration of alpha radiation, Americium-241 only poses a health risk when ingested or inhaled. Older samples of plutonium containing plutonium-241 contain a buildup of 241Am. A chemical removal of americium from reworked plutonium, e.g. during reworking of plutonium pits, may be required.

Colbalt-60 on the other hand will kill you dead within the month if handled incorrectly. It has a much higher Gamma emisiion.

If they can't find this, I have a feeling it will be finding us.

This story smells like a dirty sanchez.
You don't think the 2 armed guys asked the driver whats in the back?

reply to post by matafuchs

What are your takes on this? I mean, it is not like this is something that is very marketable....

Actually it's probably more marketable than what you think.......Think about it once.

reply to post by highfreq


I meant to the average Joe on the street. For certain circles it is a highly sought after article...

There has been speculation and more than speculation that certain orgs have been operating through the cartels for a while now.

I heard an anecdote that an "illegal" in a Texas jail who looked reasonably Hispanic was actually from a different nationality entirely, one that didn't think much of women and spoke another language than your average Joe from south of the border.

It's also known that those same networks operate cells throughout the US. Some of the Kenya gunmen came from here in the states, one from own hometown I think.

Oh, there's a market for that stuff.

This is what 90 grams of cesium 137 can do en.m.wikipedia.org...
I wonder how much cesium fukishima released?
Cobalt 60 was once melted into steel girders by accident and was used to make a building in china!

False Flag

There, now that that's out of the way.

How much of an issue is this really?

reply to post by matafuchs


Im very sure they knew what they were stealing co 60 is commercially very valuable. People dont realize how many products use this from medical to even scanners. Currently Canada supplies about 80 percent to the world market looks like Mexicos trying to get in to the game. As far as a dirty bomb well it could be used but it wouldnt be the best choice has a very short half life.

reply to post by dragonridr


Well that depends.

If you are creating a dirty bomb for a terrorist incident which is more valuable to you - the idea of causing long-term contamination to an area or the idea of causing a large group of people to become contaminated and die a protracted, lingering death or even just suffer the fear of knowing that they were exposed to highly radioactive material and might suffer the health consequences of the exposure suddenly for the rest of their lives?

Which provokes the better terror effect in people?

reply to post by matafuchs


I suppose it depends on the yield of the bomb and how far the radioactive particles are dispersed. I would have thought a few thousand rather than millions would have been required myself.

reply to post by ketsuko


Both. They both create terror and that is what the groups are looking for. If you were able to detonate one in a small urban area it would

1. End access to the city
2. Cause those in a large radius to fear death from exposure
3. Show that it can be done and it could be done again

reply to post by matafuchs


Yes, but this doesn't have a long half-life, so the idea of ending access to the city would only be temporary at best. Any lingering after effects would be temporary to the area and the psychology of the people.