This Monday a trace of radiation was detected in Thailand in a steel foundry in the province of Prachinburi. Apparently, the trace could derive from a cylinder with radioactive material that was extracted from a power plant last February, disappearing completely after its escape.
In a press conference, the provincial governor Ronnarong Nakornjinda revealed that the search operation detected the capsule with Cesium-137, which comes from a block of compressed metal that was inside the factory. Although the Thai authorities have considered radioactivity in the area controlled, the fact that the cylinder was not intact has worried the scientific community.
After his disappearance from the power plant, the authorities found the steel tube with Cesium-137 through radioactive readings in the area, according to the English newspaper The Nation Thailand. A similar case occurred in Australia last January, where they found the intact cesium-137 cylinder six days after it disappeared. However, Thailand has not had the same luck.
As feared, the cylinder had ruptured, a fact that can have serious consequences for the Thai population. As pointed out by the secretary of the Office of Atoms for Peace (the main authority for nuclear research in Thailand), Permsuk Sutchaphiwat, if a cylinder is opened, its internal material could easily disperse, presenting serious health risks, from eruptions and short-term burns to a high long-term cancer risk.
At first, the authorities avoided confirming that the radioactive trace came from the missing cylinder: “Although we have detected Cesium-137, we cannot conclude that it came from the device that was lost,” added Sutchaphiwat, who assured that the material was “under control”.
Unfortunately, the fears have come true. The possible radiation in the area has led to an immediate stoppage of work at the steel foundry, for which all employees have returned to their homes. Likewise, a perimeter has been established to prevent citizen access, and a control of workers will be carried out to look for signs of radiation exposure, as reported by Bloomberg.
Since its disappearance on March 10, search teams have been trying to find the radioactive cylinder in a myriad of locations in the region, including the power plant where it was found, various antique stores and junkyards. As reported by EFE, the piece with a diameter of 12 centimeters, 20 centimeters in length and 25 kilos in weight, is covered with lead and lined with steel so that its interior material does not leak.
This headline-grabbing cylinder sat about 15 meters above the ground and was used to measure the ash level in the silo at the Prachinburi power station. Thanks to the statements of a plant worker, it is believed that he could have gotten lost on February 23, the day on which the man could hear a noise in the facilities.
The danger that this situation entails has caused Thai citizens to raise their voices in search of answers, transferring their complaints to social networks such as Twitter, where they have made it clear that the government is not providing enough information about what happened.
As for the person responsible for this natural catastrophe, he could face a fine of 100,000 baht (about $2,936), along with a year in prison. If found guilty of late reporting of radioactive material, the power plant operator will face justice.
Thailand witnessed a similar incident in the early 2000s, when a scrap collector found an abandoned container containing the radioactive material cobalt-60, and dismantled it without realizing the danger. After hospitalizing ten citizens, and exposing 1,872 people to harmful radiation, the search team found the radioactive source, located in Samut Prakan province, adjacent to Bangkok.
