A “highly dangerous” radioactive material was stolen from a facility in Iraq previous year, sparking fears it could be acquired by so-called Islamic State and used as a weapon.
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The material employs gamma rays to test for flaws in oil and gas pipelines in a process called industrial gamma radiography.
At the time, a spokesman for the UK’s Health Protection Agency (HPA), said: “If the material is outside of its protection packaging, anyone who has come into prolonged physical contact, such as keeping it in a pocket, should seek medical assistance”.
In the hands of the right person, capsules of Ir-192, a radioactive isotope of iridium, can be used to treat cancer and save lives.
The International Atomic Energy Agency classifies the stolen material as Category 2, meaning that if not managed properly it could cause permanent injury or death to anyone in close proximity to it within hours.
Officials fear the radioactive material could fall into the hands of the Islamic State terror group.
Toner declined to comment on whether the missing material might be suitable for use in a “dirty” bomb.
Security officials have expressed concern that terrorist forces could use the materials to launch a massive attack in Iraq or elsewhere in the region.
Weatherford officials said SGS was responsible for safeguarding the material. The US State Department says there’s no indication ISIS has the radioactive materials. A dirty bomb cannot cause a nuclear explosion but can pollute an area with radiation.
Now, the main question is whether ISIS is actually in possession of it and if it is preparing a dirty bomb to attack the US and its coalition allies in Europe.
Iraq authorities are on a top-priority search for radioactive material deemed “highly dangerous” that went missing from a storage facility near Basra.
Besides the risk of a dirty bomb, the radioactive material could cause harm simply by being left exposed in a public place for several days, said David Albright, a physicist and president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.
“If they left it in some crowded place, that would be more of the risk”.
“Certainly it’s not insignificant. They would want to get this back”, he said.
Since the alarm over the missing material was raised on November 13, counter-radiation teams have been inspecting oil sites, scrap yards and border crossings in efforts to locate the device, a second senior environment ministry official told Reuters.
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Chris Hunter, a former bomb disposal officer, told RT that IS may already have enough material for a dirty bomb as the group has gained control over huge areas with dams, power facilities and hospitals where they can take radioactive materials.
