September 18, 2012 - Your Industry News -
NNSA conducts radiological security workshop in Bangladesh - Representatives from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were in Bangladesh this week to conduct a radiation security workshop focused on locating, identifying, registering and transporting radioactive sources that could be used in radiological dispersal devices (RDD), commonly referred to as "dirty bombs." The training, the first of its kind in Bangladesh, builds on a decade of cooperation between the two countries. The workshop, which was led by experts from NNSA’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), was attended by representatives from the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Border Guard Bangladesh, Bangladeshi Customs and a variety of law enforcement and source-using organizations. The course is part of GTRI’s Search and Secure program, which, in addition to source search and recovery training, also provides a suite of radiation detection and identification equipment. As part of this course, Bangladesh developed a list of sites likely to contain orphan sources and GTRI will assist in the search and recovery of the first few sites identified.
September 18, 2012 - Vestnik Kavkaza - Smuggled cesium-137 confiscated in Turkey - The Turkish Gendarmerie has stopped a vehicle carrying two containers with cesium-137 worth 1 million euro. It will be studied at the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency, RIA Novosti reports. A vehicle from Georgia was caught carrying 500 grams of cesium-137 in April. The material was bought in Russia and was to be sold in Turkey for $1 million. Cesium-137 was banned in Turkey. It causes radioactive pollution and comes from radioactive waste.
September 18, 2012 - The Telegraph - Halliburton loses radioactive rod in Texas - Halliburton engineers have lost a radioactive rod used to survey oil and gas drilling sites somewhere in Texas, sparking a search operation involving the National Guard and FBI. The seven-inch stainless steel rod contains americium-241/beryllium, which is classed as a "category 3" radiation source, meaning it could cause permanent injury to anyone handling it. There is a small chance that exposure could be fatal although that would require close proximity for several days or even weeks. The item was used to survey drilling sites in Texan oil fields. Engineers were transporting the rod 130 miles by truck between well sites in Pecos and Odessa on September 11, but it was later discovered that it had been misplaced. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a report on the loss saying that all attempts to find it had failed: "The logging truck is at their shop in Odessa now and they are literally stripping it down, removing every piece of equipment looking for the source." "The licensee stated that the well site had been searched and surveyed twice. The licensee stated that the road between Pecos and Odessa had been surveyed using well logging tools extended from pickup trucks and driven between 5 and 10 miles per hour and the source was not found. "The licensee stated they have had people on the ground searching, but did not know how much area away from the well site in Pecos had been searched."