Stolen equipment has radioactive materials

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) has issued a warning to the general public, particularly scrap metal dealers, junkyard owners and even buyers of stolen items, about the health hazards posed by a soil moisture and density gauge equipment which was stolen from a multinational construction company in Arayat, Pampanga last month.

The PNRI, an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), said the stolen equipment has radioactive materials that may be let loose when it is improperly handled.

The equipment was stolen from Taisei Corp. Phils., which has a PNRI license to use it in moisture and density testing of soil and asphalt pavements.

In a report to the PNRI, Taisei said its construction manager discovered the gauge equipment missing last Feb. 17, with the double lock on the door of the company’s storage room broken and the swing mechanism of the door removed.

The company said its manager found the Troxler gauge equipment gone inside its transport case.

The stolen equipment is a Troxler model 3440 series that measures 14.8 x 9.1 x 7.2 inches and weighs 18.2 kilos (29 pounds).

It contains the radioactive materials Cesium-137 and Americium-241, which are encapsulated in stainless steel and are shielded with tungsten, lead and cadmium.

The PNRI said the stolen equipment may emit harmful radiation rays if it is not properly handled or the radioactive source housing is tampered with.

Any information about the stolen equipment can be relayed to the PNRI, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, tel. nos. 929-6010 to 19 local 285 (look for Teofilo Leonin, officer-in-charge of the Nuclear Regulations, Licensing and Safeguards Division).