Mexico scrambles to find stolen radioactive material

originally posted by: xuenchen
Iridium-192 can be useful in making a dirty bomb.

Don't let anybody tell you it's "safe" or "not as dangerous" as something else.

You mean lie?

It's not as dangerous. That's a scientific fact whether you want people to needlessly panic or not.

If this was used in a dirty bomb, it of course would be dangerous. However, this is nothing like weapons/reactor grade material. It would render a place inconveniently unusable for a month or two, at the most, and only a small area. It might cause some sickness in some people too. A dirty bomb with something weapons grade would render a massive swathe of the country unsafe for centuries.

Clearly, one thing is more dangerous than the other.

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h
a reply to: roaland

ISIS training camp only eight miles from Texas border

You do know that if an ISIS camp was 8 miles from the US border, it wouldn't be there long as the US does have eye's in the area and ears to the ground, so finding it would be fairly easy.

Shh, they want to believe the fantasy, regardless of the fact that there was no credible source for the claim on a single right wing blog, and that there was no mention of them contacting the authorities about this supposed camp - which if true would make them liable for prosecution, withholding evidence of terrorist activity.

originally posted by: roaland

The interior ministry issued an alert in five southern and eastern states late Wednesday, two days after a toolbox-sized container carrying the Iridium-192 source was snatched from a truck in a residential parking lot in Cardenas, Tabasco state.

Mexico scrambles to find stolen radioactive material

Mexico has another shipment of radioactive material stolen. this happened last year too if my memory serves me correctly. Normally I'd just file this away as another news story. heres the link

Yahoo News

All is not doom porn though lol

"Each time that one of these units have disappeared from the hands of companies in charge of them, we have recovered them with the help of the population," Puente told Milenio television.

as i said, normally I'd just file this away as another news story. But in light of this tread from yesterday

ISIS training camp only eight miles from Texas border

I think this deserves a little more attention from the Mexican Government and the US Gov. Can we continue to ignore the flood of unknown people crossing that boarder?

Lets hear your thoughts ATS. I don't post alot but i didn't see this up yet so here it is.

Every day the US transports nuclear waste across country to the Yucca Flats. They transport it on our interstates.

We probably would never hear about it if the trucks were hijacked.

Some Mexican official is probably getting big kickbacks.

A common use if Ir-192 is to x-ray welds. It is a common industrial source.

originally posted by: pteridine
A common use if Ir-192 is to x-ray welds. It is a common industrial source.

Unless the person stealing it was really stupid and didn't know that.

The buyer might be stupid also.

Seems it might be a case of Dumb and Dumber.

well I think we figured out the game plan. ISIS jihadist, working with the drug cartels, will smuggle the stolen Radioactive material into the US, use it in a weaponized manner in some population zone (probably at the GOP), bringing an abrupt end to the country we once knew, and essentially giving birth to a new modern version of "The NAZI state" . Expect police (which will either be replaced with the robots or foreign UN mercs) to be shooting children for stealing candy in the streets with the new laws passed as a result.

The drone strikes will begin on American soil starting 2017 with the next candidate. Welcome to the new age. It is sad we know exactly how this plot is unfolding and yet, nothing to stop it.

a reply to: roaland

Good job Mexico.

Its something I notice here:

When they want to bother you with formalities and BS they say that any modern country does these things...Then when they want you to leave them alone like when filing a police report they say "hey what do you want, this is Mexico Gringo"

I understand they want to modernize the country and start to be taken more seriously....then things like this happen, AGAIN.

I got stopped the other day by Mexican cops for scolding my kid in public. They said I hit my kid and that they dont tolerate those things. I was like "yeah, but I didnt hit my kid, get a doctor to look my child over or provide proof of what you are accusing me of". They were not happy with the sass. They were acting like Mexico is this bastion for childrens rights. I wondered if they get all indignant about the child poverty or the child workforce here....

I WANT to give them the benefit of the doubt, but they are a freaking mess here.

I cant wait to get my family out of here. Now I have to keep a look out for radioactive BS.....

Way to go Mexico...Nice job.

Holy # wtf are you doing down there?? My wife is Mexican and she will never even go back. It must be a well paying contract because you are truly in #sville. But hey, at least your not in Jersey

a reply to: DYepes

LOL I am fixing my Mexican wifes immigration status which has to processed here. I am just staying for a time so my family doesnt forget my face and so my kid doesnt forget my ways. I have been coming and going for about a year and a half. I will stay for a month more or less. My last stretch before this one, I stayed for about 8 months straight...but you have to work so....I will fly back to the states for 3 or 4 months, work, and then fly back to Mexico.

Hopefully immigration will not take so damned long. Short story, we are almost done with this crap.

I like it here, but I like it to visit.LOL I thought NYC was an experience. Oh boy was I wrong. After this, only Iraq can phase me.

In the meantime we are toughening up. I like that my daughter is seeing this side to life before she moves to the states. Its a good lesson beleive it or not, for all of us.

At the end of the day, we will return to the states as hard as nails. I like that. It makes you appreciate the little things. It also makes you more adept at survival.

YES, at least we are not in Jersey. That is a plus.

Well hopefully it can be a hasty process. The way the propaganda machine is reporting events along the border, there may actually be an effort on one side or the other to clamp it down soon. be safe brother.

originally posted by: Rocker2013



If this was used in a dirty bomb, it of course would be dangerous. However, this is nothing like weapons/reactor grade material. It would render a place inconveniently unusable for a month or two, at the most, and only a small area. It might cause some sickness in some people too. A dirty bomb with something weapons grade would render a massive swathe of the country unsafe for centuries.

Clearly, one thing is more dangerous than the other.

Ok, don't mean to be that guy but there are some false hoods in this statement. First Ir 192 has a half life of 73.83 lets call it 74 days. Now your looking at 740 days until the majority of this isotope is decayed. So thats about 2 years. Also a dirty bomb with something weapons grade is not necessarily worse. U235 is actually more heavy metal toxic than it is radio-toxic not that it helps. U235s half life is in hundreds of millions of years meaning for a given amount there are not many decays per given amount of time. Also U325 is a beta emitter and the particle are only harmful if in direct contact with soft tissue. Thats why people go for these crazy unstable isotopes like cobalt 60 when trying for a dirty bombs. They have short half lives and emit high energy gamma rays when trying for a dirty bombs. Pu 239 on the other hand might be a little worse because we have not evolved with it in our environment. Also the area deemed unsafe does not depend on the isotope used thats more up to the amount of material and the winds at the location. Also in any city it would not jut be an inconvenience. People will be exposed and there will be health impacts on the public.

originally posted by: WarminIndy

originally posted by: roaland

The interior ministry issued an alert in five southern and eastern states late Wednesday, two days after a toolbox-sized container carrying the Iridium-192 source was snatched from a truck in a residential parking lot in Cardenas, Tabasco state.

Mexico scrambles to find stolen radioactive material

Mexico has another shipment of radioactive material stolen. this happened last year too if my memory serves me correctly. Normally I'd just file this away as another news story. heres the link

Yahoo News

All is not doom porn though lol

"Each time that one of these units have disappeared from the hands of companies in charge of them, we have recovered them with the help of the population," Puente told Milenio television.

as i said, normally I'd just file this away as another news story. But in light of this tread from yesterday

ISIS training camp only eight miles from Texas border

I think this deserves a little more attention from the Mexican Government and the US Gov. Can we continue to ignore the flood of unknown people crossing that boarder?

Lets hear your thoughts ATS. I don't post alot but i didn't see this up yet so here it is.

Every day the US transports nuclear waste across country to the Yucca Flats. They transport it on our interstates.

We probably would never hear about it if the trucks were hijacked.

Some Mexican official is probably getting big kickbacks.

My understanding is that nuclear waste generally stays on site because there is no central repository and transportation of the material is comparatively more dangerous than storing it locally.

a reply to: BGTM90

First Ir 192 has a half life of 73.83 lets call it 74 days. Now your looking at 740 days until the majority of this isotope is decayed.

very interesting info. enough time to ruin the population and create a nice little scare in a dirty bomb situation but short enough half-life to repopulate/clean-up the area. If I'm understanding that right, I find that very disturbing if it fell into isis's hands.

a reply to: BGTM90

But you're choosing to ignore the ability to clean up after it, and the potential for injury or loss of life, compared to a dirty bomb of weapons grade material. The damage and the scope of anything created from this is far lower, and far more easier to manage, than what most here are reading into this by comparing to their nightmarish scenarios.

The person I was responding to made the false claim that this is just as dangerous, when it most certainly isn't.

I know people want to have their dooms day fantasies here, but there are certain facts that should not just be ignored because you want to fantasize about a dirty bomb rendering a large chunk of the US uninhabitable, you would need MUCH MORE material for something that dramatic, and a far more dangerous level of contaminant too.

That doesn't render this harmless, but it isn't anything like what plenty of people here seem to want to imagine. It's the equivalent of comparing a match head to a stick of dynamite.

Back when the CNN was actually breaking news . Real news not controlled by the Government there was a truck load of cyanide stolen as well. (2002) I remember it freaked me out a bit how it was only flashed once on the reading bar at the bottom of their broadcast never to be seen again.
Truck Full of Cyanide Is Stolen in Mexico
Mexico needs to move these type things with military escorts it seems it keeps happening way to much for us to have an open boarder with them. Pretty nice makings for dirty bombs. Thanks Mexico for being such a great Neighbor.

and it appears someone has noticed with could be trend

Wash ington Post Link

accident or not, terrorists or just dumb thieves, all it takes is one jihadist to get ahold of some of this stuff. whether its weapons grade or not, radiation is still radiation and while the damage differs, the damage is still done.

originally posted by: Rocker2013
a reply to: BGTM90

But you're choosing to ignore the ability to clean up after it, and the potential for injury or loss of life, compared to a dirty bomb of weapons grade material. The damage and the scope of anything created from this is far lower, and far more easier to manage, than what most here are reading into this by comparing to their nightmarish scenarios.

The person I was responding to made the false claim that this is just as dangerous, when it most certainly isn't.

I know people want to have their dooms day fantasies here, but there are certain facts that should not just be ignored because you want to fantasize about a dirty bomb rendering a large chunk of the US uninhabitable, you would need MUCH MORE material for something that dramatic, and a far more dangerous level of contaminant too.

That doesn't render this harmless, but it isn't anything like what plenty of people here seem to want to imagine. It's the equivalent of comparing a match head to a stick of dynamite.

How is this easier to clean up compared the weapons grade material? If anything this material is harder to clean up compared to U235 or Pu239 because Ir129 emits hard gamma rays. Meaning you need thick dense metal ie lead to shield you. But all in all you can't clean it up. You can spray things down but that just washes onto the ground or into the water supply. Plus the most harmful effects come when people inhale particles and it get into they 're bodies.

originally posted by: Rocker2013

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h
a reply to: roaland

ISIS training camp only eight miles from Texas border

You do know that if an ISIS camp was 8 miles from the US border, it wouldn't be there long as the US does have eye's in the area and ears to the ground, so finding it would be fairly easy.

Shh, they want to believe the fantasy, regardless of the fact that there was no credible source for the claim on a single right wing blog, and that there was no mention of them contacting the authorities about this supposed camp - which if true would make them liable for prosecution, withholding evidence of terrorist activity.

Really? Releasing into the public domain = withholding nowadays? I hope not, because that is absolutely ridiculous. Ever heard of freedom of the press? Has to apply here.

originally posted by: dr1234

originally posted by: Rocker2013

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h
a reply to: roaland

ISIS training camp only eight miles from Texas border

You do know that if an ISIS camp was 8 miles from the US border, it wouldn't be there long as the US does have eye's in the area and ears to the ground, so finding it would be fairly easy.

Shh, they want to believe the fantasy, regardless of the fact that there was no credible source for the claim on a single right wing blog, and that there was no mention of them contacting the authorities about this supposed camp - which if true would make them liable for prosecution, withholding evidence of terrorist activity.

Really? Releasing into the public domain = withholding nowadays? I hope not, because that is absolutely ridiculous. Ever heard of freedom of the press? Has to apply here.

Since when is there freedom of the press?

You say Fox News, they say "evil, fearmongering, nutbag, hack journalism, propagandists".

They say CNN, you say "evil, fearmongering, nutbag, hack journalism, propagandists".

Really, there is no real freedom of the press, because just as soon as press prints or speaks, they have to do so according to their board of directors or what the government approves.

CNN HAS to report only what the government wants, Fox News gets lambasted by the same government controlling CNN, and yet both have to make money to please the shareholders.

The only freedom of the press is in independent sources.

a reply to: Sparkymedic

Last I heard (not sure how true it is) ISIS had a base 8 miles from the US border.

This should keep things interesting...

NO. THIS. IS. JUST. NOT. TRUE.

Anapra, Mexico residents, US congressman debunk ISIS training camp rumor