Search yields no sign of radioactive hazard tube

Prachin Buri province raised its dangerous situation alert to Level 2 yesterday as the search continued into its second day for a missing bulky tube containing radioactive caesium-137, a highly hazardous isotope.

Level 2 means the provincial government is required to take charge of the operation being carried out to deal with this specific threat to public safety, said Narong Nakhonchinda, the provincial governor. Level 4 indicates the highest threat to safety.

Mr Narong was referring to the caesium-137 tube that was found in an initial investigation to have gone missing while being transported between venues and not stolen from a factory as was initially suspected.

The tube, belonging to a steam power plant in tambon Tha Matum of Sri Maha Phot district, was believed to have gone missing on Feb 23, but the company that owns it only reported the incident to police last Friday.

A total of 26 scrap shops in the district were searched on Tuesday, but no sign of the tube was found, Mr Narong said, adding the search continued yesterday to little avail.

A reward of 50,000 baht is being offered to anyone who provides information leading to the recovery of the missing tube, said Dr Surin Suebsueng, the chief provincial public health officer.

“In case you find anything suspected to be the missing caesium-137 tube, please alert the authorities. Stay away from it and don’t try to open it,” said the doctor.

A check of records dating back one month at hospitals and healthcare centres in the province found no suspected case of sickness or injuries that could have been caused by exposure to the radioactive material, he said.

A surveillance system has been set up to look for signs of sickness possibly linked to exposure to caesium-137, he said.

The province’s public health emergency operation centre and its partners in other provinces are being told to get ready for any responses that may be needed.

The disappearance of a caesium-137 tube from a powerplant in Prachin Buri is a reminder of a similar case which happened 23 years ago. In that incident, a cobalt-60 cylinder went missing from a warehouse and ended up in the hands of a garbage scavenger, who sold it to a scrap dealer, who in turn broke the highly-radioactive tube into various pieces to be resold.

In total, 1,872 people living around the scrapyard were found to have been exposed to harmful levels of radiation. Three people — two scrapyard workers and and the scrapyard owner’s husband — died two months later from radiation sickness.

For now, the public can breathe a sigh of relief because there hasn’t been any report of sickness and/or death from radiation exposure. That said, the tube has been missing for three weeks and no one has any idea where it is.

National Power Plant 5A Company — a biomass power plant which owns the tube — is offering a 50,000baht reward for any information which could lead to the recovery of the missing tube.

It must be noted that the power plant only informed the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP), the state body which monitors the use of radioactive materials, on March 10, two weeks after they realised the caesium-137 tube was missing.

It is now up to the police and the Department of Factories under the Industry Ministry to pursue action against the plant, which acted in a highly irresponsible manner.

This case is also a reminder about the absence of a comprehensive system to monitor and trace hazardous materials such as dangerous chemicals, toxic waste and radioactive substances used in industrial activities.

Once the search is over and the tube is (hopefully) found, all state agencies, including the Department of Factories under the Industry Ministry and the OAP under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, need to step in and urgently revamp monitoring mechanisms.

It is clear the existing system is not adequate to ensure safety.

The hunt for the missing tube will be like searching for a needle in a haystack. The tube has no warning labels, and at first glance it looks harmless.

Weighing about 25 kilogrammes and measuring about 30 centimetres in length and 15cm in diameter, it can be easily mistaken as a used pipe or an engine spare part.

A small handful of OAP nuclear technology officials have been scouring recycling shops and scrapyards in Prachin Buri and adjacent Chachoengsao since the evening of March 10, while the Prachin Buri governor is working with village chiefs and local administrations to help find the tube.

The Public Health Ministry, meanwhile, is preparing to treat radiated patients.

As of now, there seems to be a lack of urgency on the part of the government. The prime minister and his ministers seem to be occupied with their election campaigns.

The government must ramp up its search and work harder by using media and online channels to alert people about the tube and what to do if it is located. The caesium-137 tube is highly dangerous, so all efforts must be made to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Leaving it out there is not only dangerous but morally irresponsible. No matter how hard and how long it takes, this highly dangerous item must be found.