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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.
An SGS official in Iraq declined to comment and referred Reuters to its Turkish headquarters, which did not respond to phone calls.
The document, dated Nov. 30 and addressed to the ministry's Centre for Prevention of Radiation, describes "the theft of a highly dangerous radioactive source of Ir-192 with highly radioactive activity belonging to SGS from a depot belonging to Weatherford in the Rafidhia area of Basra province".
I smell something fishy , a turkish based company loss it?
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.
An SGS official in Iraq declined to comment and referred Reuters to its Turkish headquarters, which did not respond to phone calls.
The document, dated Nov. 30 and addressed to the ministry's Centre for Prevention of Radiation, describes "the theft of a highly dangerous radioactive source of Ir-192 with highly radioactive activity belonging to SGS from a depot belonging to Weatherford in the Rafidhia area of Basra province".
I smell something fishy , a turkish based company loss it?
Yes, what are the odds that a Middle Eastern company operating in the bucolic haven of Iraq could ever lose material? I mean, whoever heard of a company losing anything?
Now, could it have been stolen? Sure. But if you think a company simply losing valuables is 'fishy', then you might want to join the real world. I imagine it's all the easier to lose things in failed third-world states. Of course, in this case it wasn't simply lost, it was stolen. You're surprised that theft occurs in Iraq? Seriously? You know what? Theft even occurs right here in the first world.
As has been noted right in the very article you link:
Quote:
Large quantities of Ir-192 have gone missing before in the United States, Britain and other countries, stoking fears among security officials that it could be used to make a dirty bomb.
So anyway, someone has Iridium-192. And I guess the peanut gallery has collectively decided that it's the bad guys, and they're going to start dumping buckets of it out of airplanes. Well, not exactly buckets, because the material missing is 10 grams, or 1/3rd of an ounce. OK. They'd better start doing so soon, because they have less and less of it every day that passes.
Iridium-192 has a half-life of 74 days. And this theft was reported on November 30 - it occurred at some point prior to that. Weeks? Months? At any rate, as of February 12th, half of the sample of Ir-192 that existed in November 30th (which itself was some fraction of the original 10 grams) has now decayed into the daughter isotopes Platinum-192 (which, though technically radioactive, is non-toxic as it has a half-life of over 3 million times the age of the universe) and Osmium-192, which has a similarly long half-life and so is also effectively stable.
Who's going to take the first watch looking out for low-flying aircraft suspiciously dumping thimble-fuls of material?
Iridium-192 has a half-life of 74 days. And this theft was reported on November 30 - it occurred at some point prior to that. Weeks? Months? At any rate, as of February 12th, half of the sample of Ir-192 that existed in November 30th (which itself was some fraction of the original 10 grams) has now decayed into the daughter isotopes Platinum-192 (which, though technically radioactive, is non-toxic as it has a half-life of over 3 million times the age of the universe) and Osmium-192, which has a similarly long half-life and so is also effectively stable.
Hush, you, with facts and science and such. That's no way to get the widespread fear going.
The item in question, an industrial radiography device about the size of a laptop, was found apparently undamaged Sunday near a patrol station in the southern Iraqi town of Zubayr. The fear was that the material -- which has the potential to harm many -- could have fallen into the hands of ISIS or another terror group.
But according to al-Falahi, everything was in proper order when it was found. "We don't have any concern about radiation since the case has not been damaged at all," al-Falahi said.
So, some items were stolen. Not by ISIS ninjas, but most likely by some thief looking for fancy-looking equipment he might be able to sell for a buck and who hadn't the foggiest idea what he was stealing. Probably saw the radiological hazard symbol on it and flung it out the window of a vehicle.
Which was always a far, far, far more likely eventuality than the thief being an ISIS ninja, who would then charter an airplane and swoop down over Manhattan and pour out all 10 grams (yes, that's right - 10 grams, more than half of which has decayed into harmless daughter isotopes since the theft).
I can only imagine the disappointment the hair-on-fire crowd will feel at this news...
It was recovered today - completely intact - near Basra.
Was this reported to make us feel good or President Obama to look good...... Strange story, but seems everything is questionable these days, even when it looks possible or not.
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Strange story, but seems everything is questionable these days, even when it looks possible or not.
