Stolen "goods" recovered

Monday, February 22, 03:44

Stolen radioactive device found in Iraq

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160222_04/

Radioactive material that went missing in Iraq has been found near a petrol station in the south of the country.

The Iraqi health ministry said on Sunday that a passer-by found the device dumped near a petrol station in the town of Zubair near Basra.

The ministry also said security officials recovered the undamaged device and that there are no concerns about radiation.

The device contains the radioactive material iridium-192. It was stolen in November last year from a storage facility of a US oilfield service company near the southern city of Basra.

The material is classified as a Category 2 radioactive source by the IAEA. That means a person who handles the radioactive material for minutes to hours can be permanently injured. It can kill those who come into close proximity to it over a period of hours to days.

There had been concerns that terrorist groups such as Islamic State militants could have used the material to make a dirty bomb.