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Radioactive material stolen in burglary.

  • 02-10-2013 06:17PM
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 175 ✭✭


    http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1002/477847-radioactive-material/
    Gardaí have issued a warning to the public after radioactive material was taken in a burglary in Swords, Co Dublin over the weekend.
    Seven lightning preventers, which were contained in a red metal box, were taken during the course of the burglary.
    They have the appearance of aluminium or stainless steel, but are of no scrap value.
    Gardaí said these are highly dangerous and should not be touched or approached.
    The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland said: "If handled, they will cause radioactive contamination to the person's hands and clothing with the possibly of internal radioactive contamination."
    Close proximity to them will result in a person exceeding the annual radiation dose limit in a matter of hours.
    Anyone with information is asked to contact Swords Garda Station on 01-6664700 or the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland on 01-2066913.

    I wonder just how dangerous these items actually are?
    Somehow I feel like the people who robbed it will get what they deserve if they end up suffering from the effects of radiation, but its most likely that these will end up in some dump somewhere and do damage to somebody innocent and the environment.


Comments

  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,126 ✭✭✭Santa Cruz


    Hopefully they will glow in the dark and it will be easier to spot them when they are out robbing.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,533 ✭✭✭Jester252


    YOLO


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,324 ✭✭✭tallus


    I sure hope they don't get a dose of radiation sickness. (Not)
    Hopefully it'll be the last time this scumbag steals.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 247 ✭✭j.s. pill II


    Something similar occurred in Brazil in 1987 - wasn't a very happy ending!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,296 ✭✭✭Frank Black


    tosspot15 wrote: »



    Somehow I feel like the people who robbed it will get what they deserve if they end up suffering from the effects of radiation,

    There's also the possibility that they may gain some kind of super-human powers and then use those powers for evil.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,829 ✭✭✭JackieChan


    Something similar occurred in Brazil in 1987 - wasn't a very happy ending!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident

    Wow, never heard of that incident. I wonder how radioactive the items in this theft are.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,831 ✭✭✭genericguy


    JackieChan wrote: »
    Wow, never heard of that incident. I wonder how radioactive the items in this theft are.

    About 6 radioactive I think


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,182 ✭✭✭nyarlothothep


    They didn't see the radiation sign with danger written underneath? :confused:


  • Posts: 6,025 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I wonder who was burgled and why they had such items


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭Miss Lockhart


    Something similar occurred in Brazil in 1987 - wasn't a very happy ending!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident

    Thanks for the link. Fascinating stuff!

    I hope this incident doesn't have the potential to turn out so badly.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,960 ✭✭✭DarkJager


    They didn't see the radiation sign with danger written underneath? :confused:

    They're scumbags so they probably can't read. Hope it ****ing kills them painfully.


  • Posts: 6,025 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    They didn't see the radiation sign with danger written underneath? :confused:

    Derek Zoolander school for people who cant read really , really good?


  • Posts: 6,025 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    DarkJager wrote: »
    They're scumbags so they probably can't read. Hope it ****ing kills them painfully.

    Id love to be a fly on the wall, when word of what they have stolen, reaches them...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27,944 ✭✭✭✭4zn76tysfajdxp


    Hopefully it was a load of crazed Libyans trying to get a bomb from some wide eyed mad-scientist.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Something similar occurred in Brazil in 1987 - wasn't a very happy ending!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident

    Holy. Shit.

    I hope whoever has it now will know just how dangerous it is and give it back.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 443 ✭✭Elbaston


    ha ha ha ... only in Japan


    what ? where ?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,934 ✭✭✭Renegade Mechanic


    Why does everyone want them to die? Maybe theyre gonna make a mini nuke and put it under the dáil?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,681 ✭✭✭bodice ripper


    Why does everyone want them to die?

    Why does everyone want the to die? Maybe they were just involved in a relatively minor burglary?


  • Posts: 6,025 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Why does everyone want them to die? Maybe theyre gonna make a mini nuke and put it under the dáil?

    whos everyone, pretty sure I never wished them dead :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 443 ✭✭Elbaston


    Jake1 wrote: »
    whos everyone, pretty sure I never wished them dead :)

    Mad isn't it.
    You can just feel the anger radiating.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 14,380 ✭✭✭✭Banjo String


    Call off the search.

    Passed this in south county Dublin earlier.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,306 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    JackieChan wrote: »
    Wow, never heard of that incident. I wonder how radioactive the items in this theft are.
    They had radioactive caesium in the source which is a right bastard as it's so easily absorbed by body tissues. The stuff nicked today may well be radioactive, which is never good, however they may not be that dangerous. People forget that up until the 1950's or so you could buy radium dialed watches* and clocks and radium is extremely active, yet few fatalities if any are reported for end users. Fatalities were reported for the women who worked at dial painting, but even there, though a terrible tragedy the doses they were absorbing were enormous. Some women used to joke around and paint their teeth and nails so they would glow in the dark. You could buy radium paint over the counter to paint lightswitches even shoelace ends and whole slippers so you could find them in the dark, I kid thee not folks.

    We've become rightfully a lot more cautious about this stuff, but I'd not be neckin the iodine tablets just yet.




    *FYI if you have an old watch that has a radium dial be careful. I'd not wear it in bed anyway and NEVER open the back. It doesn't matter if it doesn't glow anymore. Radium itself emits very little light, it was added phospor material that glowed, but over the years the radium burns it out ta fuq. I had a 1930's watch that nearly broke the scale of a geiger counter(and gave me a case of the trots when I saw this), so I had it professionally cleaned. I have an altimeter and compass from a WW2 Stuka Divebomber and they're so thickly painted with globs of radium you can still see an eerie glow from them. TBH even they don't register if you're a meter or so away, but will damn near blow a geiger counter speaker at a CM away from the dials. They live in my shed well away from the house with a lead sheet over them busily mutating my spiders...

    Many worry about Artificial Intelligence. I worry far more about Organic Idiocy.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,182 ✭✭✭nyarlothothep


    Holy. Shit.

    I hope whoever has it now will know just how dangerous it is and give it back.

    They might not want to get jailed and so they'll dispose of it somehow, hopefully not in a river or place that contaminates the whole area and other areas. If they couldn't read the radiation sign I'm doubtful as to whether they would have enough cop on to own up rather than causing widespread radiation sickness.

    Then there is the remote possibility that they're not ordinary thieves at all...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,798 ✭✭✭goose2005


    Holy. Shit.

    I hope whoever has it now will know just how dangerous it is and give it back.
    Big difference between the two. The Goania source was 93 g of caesium-137 emitting 51 trillion becquerels. This (http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q9776.html) estimates that a lightning rod will emit about 37 - 370 million. More importantly, Am-241 and Ra-226 only emit alpha particles and so are unlikely to be harmful unless eaten.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,308 ✭✭✭downonthefarm


    up and atom


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,555 ✭✭✭✭Sir Digby Chicken Caesar


    Wibbs wrote: »

    *FYI if you have an old watch that has a radium dial be careful. I'd not wear it in bed anyway and NEVER open the back. It doesn't matter if it doesn't glow anymore. Radium itself emits very little light, it was added phospor material that glowed, but over the years the radium burns it out ta fuq. I had a 1930's watch that nearly broke the scale of a geiger counter(and gave me a case of the trots when I saw this), so I had it professionally cleaned. I have an altimeter and compass from a WW2 Stuka Divebomber and they're so thickly painted with globs of radium you can still see an eerie glow from them. TBH even they don't register if you're a meter or so away, but will damn near blow a geiger counter speaker at a CM away from the dials. They live in my shed well away from the house with a lead sheet over them busily mutating my spiders...


    what use do you think you're going to have for a radioactive compass in the future?


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,306 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    what use do you think you're going to have for a radioactive compass in the future?
    I'm planning ahead SDCC. I'm building a Stuka in my shed bit by bit in case the Russians or the Brits decide to invade... Have the tailwheel and a chunk of the bomb arming circuitry somewhere too. *twitches*

    Many worry about Artificial Intelligence. I worry far more about Organic Idiocy.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 142 ✭✭ThePieintheSky


    Very funny story. :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,802 ✭✭✭cml387


    Wibbs wrote: »

    *FYI if you have an old watch that has a radium dial be careful. I'd not wear it in bed anyway and NEVER open the back. It doesn't matter if it doesn't glow anymore. Radium itself emits very little light, it was added phospor material that glowed, but over the years the radium burns it out ta fuq. I had a 1930's watch that nearly broke the scale of a geiger counter(and gave me a case of the trots when I saw this), so I had it professionally cleaned. I have an altimeter and compass from a WW2 Stuka Divebomber and they're so thickly painted with globs of radium you can still see an eerie glow from them. TBH even they don't register if you're a meter or so away, but will damn near blow a geiger counter speaker at a CM away from the dials. They live in my shed well away from the house with a lead sheet over them busily mutating my spiders...


    And yet the risk of giant mutant radioactive spiders worries you not a bit....:eek:


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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,306 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Not really, I'm thinking 8 drumsticks each should it come to that.

    Many worry about Artificial Intelligence. I worry far more about Organic Idiocy.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,681 ✭✭✭bodice ripper


    Wibbs wrote: »
    I'm planning ahead SDCC. I'm building a Stuka in my shed bit by bit in case the Russians or the Brits decide to invade... Have the tailwheel and a chunk of the bomb arming circuitry somewhere too. *twitches*

    I knew this thread had watch-list potential.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    goose2005 wrote: »
    Big difference between the two. The Goania source was 93 g of caesium-137 emitting 51 trillion becquerels. This (http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q9776.html) estimates that a lightning rod will emit about 37 - 370 million. More importantly, Am-241 and Ra-226 only emit alpha particles and so are unlikely to be harmful unless eaten.

    Thanks for breaking it down into simple layman's terms:)


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 94,366 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,930 ✭✭✭Jimoslimos


    goose2005 wrote: »
    Big difference between the two. The Goania source was 93 g of caesium-137 emitting 51 trillion becquerels. This (http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q9776.html) estimates that a lightning rod will emit about 37 - 370 million. More importantly, Am-241 and Ra-226 only emit alpha particles and so are unlikely to be harmful unless eaten.
    Isn't Am-241 what is used in most household smoke detectors?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,648 ✭✭✭Cody Pomeray


    Has this story been blown out of proportion?

    Are these the same rods that still grace the buildings of Dublin, and which were previously (up until this summer) a low priority for dismantling?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,320 ✭✭✭Ace Attorney




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,597 ✭✭✭gctest50


    The Russians do it better :

    http://bellona.no/bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/navy/northern_fleet/incidents/31772
    The green arrow points to the place where the "hot" capsule melted the ice and went under water.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,133 ✭✭✭Mech1


    Q1. Why where these there?

    Q2. How many more are lying about the place?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,157 ✭✭✭srsly78


    Jimoslimos wrote: »
    Isn't Am-241 what is used in most household smoke detectors?

    Yes. That boyscout in america made a basic nuclear reactor essentially by breaking open smoke-detectors. He also got material from other everyday sources, thorium from lantern covers is another example.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    goose2005 wrote: »
    Big difference between the two. The Goania source was 93 g of caesium-137 emitting 51 trillion becquerels. This (http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q9776.html) estimates that a lightning rod will emit about 37 - 370 million. More importantly, Am-241 and Ra-226 only emit alpha particles and so are unlikely to be harmful unless eaten.

    I have no idea what you just said, but I'm going to agree in order to make myself look smarter.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,104 ✭✭✭✭Akrasia


    These guys are onto a good thing here I recon

    How much is a self heating hot water bottle worth to the elderly?

    At that exposure they'd probably not be at risk for radiation poisoning for decades and they'll be dead before then (plus water is a radiation shield)

    warning, use of self heating hot water bottle may result in a nuclear reactor melt down in your bedroom


  • Posts: 3,620 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Has this story been blown out of proportion?

    Are these the same rods that still grace the buildings of Dublin, and which were previously (up until this summer) a low priority for dismantling?

    Probably yes. Media coverage of anything Nuclear related ranges mostly from alarmist to hysterical.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,435 ✭✭✭mandrake04


    Wibbs wrote: »
    They had radioactive caesium in the source which is a right bastard as it's so easily absorbed by body tissues. The stuff nicked today may well be radioactive, which is never good, however they may not be that dangerous. People forget that up until the 1950's or so you could buy radium dialed watches* and clocks and radium is extremely active, yet few fatalities if any are reported for end users. Fatalities were reported for the women who worked at dial painting, but even there, though a terrible tragedy the doses they were absorbing were enormous. Some women used to joke around and paint their teeth and nails so they would glow in the dark. You could buy radium paint over the counter to paint lightswitches even shoelace ends and whole slippers so you could find them in the dark, I kid thee not folks.

    We've become rightfully a lot more cautious about this stuff, but I'd not be neckin the iodine tablets just yet.




    *FYI if you have an old watch that has a radium dial be careful. I'd not wear it in bed anyway and NEVER open the back. It doesn't matter if it doesn't glow anymore. Radium itself emits very little light, it was added phospor material that glowed, but over the years the radium burns it out ta fuq. I had a 1930's watch that nearly broke the scale of a geiger counter(and gave me a case of the trots when I saw this), so I had it professionally cleaned. I have an altimeter and compass from a WW2 Stuka Divebomber and they're so thickly painted with globs of radium you can still see an eerie glow from them. TBH even they don't register if you're a meter or so away, but will damn near blow a geiger counter speaker at a CM away from the dials. They live in my shed well away from the house with a lead sheet over them busily mutating my spiders...


    I am amazed at how ignorant people were of Radiation, the use of Shoe-fitting fluoroscope was still in use up until the late '60s. This device believe it or not was used to check wether kids feet fitted into shoes by X-Raying kids feet inside shoes. Didn't have much last affect on the kids but very nasty for the shoe sales man who would be peering through the port hole several times a day.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 94,366 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    mandrake04 wrote: »
    I am amazed at how ignorant people were of Radiation, the use of Shoe-fitting fluoroscope was still in use up until the late '60s. This device believe it or not was used to check wether kids feet fitted into shoes by X-Raying kids feet inside shoes. Didn't have much last affect on the kids but very nasty for the shoe sales man who would be peering through the port hole several times a day.
    They went by the unfortunate name of pedoscope.

    There's one near the start of Billion Dollar Brain where Harry Palmer uses it to see what's in the flask.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,044 ✭✭✭Markcheese


    srsly78 wrote: »
    Yes. That boyscout in america made a basic nuclear reactor essentially by breaking open smoke-detectors. He also got material from other everyday sources, thorium from lantern covers is another example.

    Why do I find that story more than vaguely worrying

    Slava ukraini 🇺🇦



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭mawk


    Markcheese wrote: »
    Why do I find that story more than vaguely worrying

    Don't worry. It didn't end well for him..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭Call me Al


    Was there ever any update to this? Did they find the radioactive material? Anyone turn up fluorescing in a hospital recently :eek:


  • Posts: 31,118 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Call me Al wrote: »
    Was there ever any update to this? Did they find the radioactive material? Anyone turn up fluorescing in a hospital recently :eek:
    I would imagine that any intelligent thief would dump that stuff as far away from their house as possible, probably in your back yard! :eek:


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