Stolen radioactive cobalt still at large
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
10.03.2015 13:36
Although police in Poznań have detained three people in relation to a theft of radioactive cobalt isotopes, the material has still not been retrieved.
Photo: Flickr.com/Michael Kappel
The 22 lead containers of radioactive Cobalt-60 were stolen on Friday from a warehouse in Poznań in west-central Poland.
“The information we obtained indicates that the source of ionising radiation, cobalt isotope Co-60, was in closed containers that are tamper-proof and [until opened] do not constitute a threat to the health of people,” Tomasz Stube, spokesperson to the Wielkopolska Provincial Office, told Polish Radio.
According to media sources, the Co-60 was in Ps-5b and PRJ-100 containers weighing 45 and 70kg respectively.
On 10 February, the same Poznań warehouse had already been stolen from, when thieves took away around a metric tonne of lead nuggets. This could be used to produce the casings for the radioactive substance which was stolen in a later break-in.
On the night between Sunday and Monday, three people were detained in connection with the lead theft, but the radioactive material has not yet been found.
The police has announced a reward of PLN 5,000 (EUR1,200; USD 1,300) for information leading to arrests in the case. (rg)