Frantic search for radioactive material missing from power plant in Thailand

[webfact]

 

Officials from Thailand’s Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) and Prachin Buri provincial administration are trying to recover an unspecified amount of Caesium-137 radioactive material, which went missing from a steam power plant in Prachin Buri Province on February 23rd.

 

The dangerous material is contained in a steel tube, about five inches in diameter and 12 inches long, and anyone who encounters it are advised to stay away and immediately alert the authorities.

 

Prachin Buri Governor Ronnarong Nakornjinda and OAP Secretary-General Permsuk Sutchaphiwat went to the power plant to investigate. The governor expressed concern that the dangerous material might have been stolen or improperly disposed of, which will be harmful to people who come into close contact with it.

 

Cesium-137 is a radioactive isotope formed as one of the more common products by the nuclear fission of uranium-235 and other fissionable isotopes in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons, according to Wikipedia.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/frantic-search-for-radioactive-material-missing-from-power-plant-in-prachin-buri/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2023-03-14

 

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[MJCM]

Why does a steam powered plant have this, is it then by any chance a nuclear power plant?

[Crossy]

3 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Why does a steam powered plant have this, is it then by any chance a nuclear power plant?

 

I think it's used in radiological material examination, pretty nasty stuff.

 

There have been a number of incidents with scrap merchants getting hold of "orphan sources" and causing wide area contamination and several deaths!

 

I hope the bit of rusty pipe in the OP isn't the missing source

[Puccini]

3 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Why does a steam powered plant have this, is it then by any chance a nuclear power plant?

Perhaps this steam-powered plant uses nuclear energy to produce steam.

[huangnon]

2 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

I think it's used in radiological material examination, pretty nasty stuff.

 

There have been a number of incidents with scrap merchants getting hold of "orphan sources" and causing wide area contamination and several deaths!

 

I hope the bit of rusty pipe in the OP isn't the missing source

Yep, the last one I recall was a scrap dealers in Samut Prakan. They got hold of a medical (radiotherapy: Cobalt 60) unit, and cut it open, resulting in three (known) fatalities.

 

Quote

A radiation accident occurred in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand in January–February 2000. The accident happened when an insecurely stored unlicensed cobalt-60 radiation source was recovered by scrap metal collectors who, together with a scrapyard worker, subsequently dismantled the container, unknowingly exposing themselves and others nearby to ionizing radiation. Over the following weeks, those exposed developed symptoms of radiation sickness and eventually sought medical attention.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samut_Prakan_radiation_accident

[ThailandRyan]

Dirty bomb possibly being built...scary stuff 

[sammieuk1]

This is not the time for an honest taxi driver turning up bearing gifts then ????

[NoDisplayName]

33 minutes ago, webfact said:

The dangerous material is contained in a steel tube, about five inches in diameter and 12 inches long,

Would this be an industrial radiation emitter source?  Possibly used in radiography  for examining pressure vessels?

Quote

Non Destructive Examination: radiography

Measure: weld and weld overlays castings forgings valves and components machined parts pressure vessels structural steel aircraft structures

cobalt-60 cesium-137 iridium-192

similar to this recent event

Quote

Search underway for missing radioactive capsule in Western Australia

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/28/australia/radioactive-capsule-missing-western-australia-intl/index.html

 

[Crossy]

2 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

This is not the time for an honest taxi driver turning up bearing gifts then ????

 

 

[KannikaP]

18 minutes ago, Puccini said:

Perhaps this steam-powered plant uses nuclear energy to produce steam.

Is that not how ALL nuclear power stations work?

[KannikaP]

Office of Atoms for Peace.....................run by OAPs!  555

[proton]

Khun Homer?

 

 

[nikmar]

20 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

Would this be an industrial radiation emitter source?  Possibly used in radiography  for examining pressure vessels?

dont they use radiography to check for cracks in new welds?

[sammieuk1]

5 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

 

Sadly old enough to remember that clip, and I like trucking to ????

[aussienam]

Hopefully not sourced for a dirty bomb.  Shows a definite security management concern with dangerous materials. If it was some opportunistic thief stealing scrap then it may just end up being a Darwin Award for the eventual deceased. 

 

Side note: Please get rid of that annoying new video ad pop-up. It blocks most of the text box on Android screens and makes it impossible to comment.  I close it but it re-appears soon after. I see it isn't an issue on laptop screens. Is a bad tech design whoever implemented it.

[smedly]

this is pretty serious, how on earth can something like this go missing 

[Woof999]

Just now, smedly said:

this is pretty serious, how on earth can something like this go missing 

There are several quite believable reasons that have no connection to human mis-deeds.

 

To name but two:

 

1.) Perhaps the brakes failed on the vehicle the cylinder was stored on and it rolled away.

2.) Perhaps the security guard was having a micro sleep.

 

[/joke]

[nikmar]

18 minutes ago, smedly said:

this is pretty serious, how on earth can something like this go missing 

im pretty sure there will be an ad hoc committee set up.

[khunPer]

56 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Why does a steam powered plant have this, is it then by any chance a nuclear power plant?

The article has the answer...

 

An expert in the disposal of radioactive materials, Sumetha Wichienpet, said that Caesium-137 was used in checking for invisible cracks in pipelines in the power plant, adding that the radiation emitted from Cesium-137 into the environment does not exceed 7 Rem but, in nature, the amount of radiation should not exceed 1 Rem.

[markclover]

We 90 day checks for Thai people.  Where are they and what are they doing?  Never hear of a foreigner carrying around barrels of Caesium-137.

[MJCM]

5 minutes ago, khunPer said:

The article has the answer...

 

An expert in the disposal of radioactive materials, Sumetha Wichienpet, said that Caesium-137 was used in checking for invisible cracks in pipelines in the power plant, adding that the radiation emitted from Cesium-137 into the environment does not exceed 7 Rem but, in nature, the amount of radiation should not exceed 1 Rem.

Must have missed that. My bad. ????

[hotchilli]

57 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

I think it's used in radiological material examination, pretty nasty stuff.

 

There have been a number of incidents with scrap merchants getting hold of "orphan sources" and causing wide area contamination and several deaths!

 

I hope the bit of rusty pipe in the OP isn't the missing source

I was wondering the connection of the post pic and the story?

would it not be better to give the public the correct photo so they can identify the object.

[Crossy]

13 minutes ago, khunPer said:

The article has the answer...

 

An expert in the disposal of radioactive materials, Sumetha Wichienpet, said that Caesium-137 was used in checking for invisible cracks in pipelines in the power plant, adding that the radiation emitted from Cesium-137 into the environment does not exceed 7 Rem but, in nature, the amount of radiation should not exceed 1 Rem.

 

And then someone cuts open the source! ???? 

[watchcat]

22 minutes ago, khunPer said:

The article has the answer...

 

An expert in the disposal of radioactive materials, Sumetha Wichienpet, said that Caesium-137 was used in checking for invisible cracks in pipelines in the power plant, adding that the radiation emitted from Cesium-137 into the environment does not exceed 7 Rem but, in nature, the amount of radiation should not exceed 1 Rem.

Should we belive this "expert" ?  After all TIT.

[In the jungle]

I remember some years back somebody in Bangkok tried to cut open a second world war 500 pound bomb with an oxy-acetylene torch.

 

It didn't end well.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, MJCM said:

Why does a steam powered plant have this, is it then by any chance a nuclear power plant?

The full article claims...they were using the radioactive materials to check for otherwise invisible cracks in steam lines...

 

At least, that's their story, and they're sticking to it.

 

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, MJCM said:

Must have missed that. My bad. ????

That happens sometimes for all of us...????

[BostonJoe]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Dirty bomb possibly being built...scary stuff 

 

[WHansen]

The picture does not look like a mobile device (radiation source)used to inspect the integrity of welds to me.

In my industry the equipment is carried to the location of the weld to be inspected and usually there is a 10 meter barrier put in place before "bombing" of the weld is carried out.

[jvs]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

I was wondering the connection of the post pic and the story?

would it not be better to give the public the correct photo so they can identify the object.

Do you think it is still in Thailand?