07/07/2024 – 15:36
The theft of a vehicle carrying radioactive material this week in São Paulo has drawn attention to the risks of contact with substances of this nature. Two of the five containers with radioactive materials stolen on the night of the 30th were found on the afternoon of Friday, the 5th, in the Cidade Tiradentes region, in the east zone of São Paulo, according to the State Department of Public Security. The department did not specify the conditions in which the containers were found.
“Teams from the 8th Specialized Center for the Repression of Crimes and Various Occurrences (Siege) and the Fire Department are working on site to seize the objects, while the police authority from the 49th Police District, responsible for the investigations, takes other pertinent measures to identify the perpetrator of the crime,” said the secretariat.
The handling of radioactive material is something that is carried out with extreme caution by specialists. On September 13, 1987, the improper handling of an abandoned radiotherapy device, where the Goiano Institute of Radiotherapy was operating, resulted in a tragedy that directly and indirectly involved more than a thousand people. Four of them died, and the radiological accident is considered one of the largest in the world to date.
Cesium-137
As reported by the State When the tragic episode completed 30 years, the case happened when garbage collectors Roberto dos Santos and Wagner Mota found a capsule with cesium-137, which was part of the radiological equipment.
At the scrapyard, employees were enchanted by the brightly shining powder. Relatives and friends then began visiting the site to see the collectors’ discovery. In addition to the four dead, those who had direct contact with the substance fell ill.
Three decades later, the accident was still present for 1,141 people, who were still monitored by the Assistance Center for Radiation Accident Victims (Cara), of the Goiás Health Department.
These are people contaminated by objects that had been infected by the substance, who were close to the cesium-137 sources or who worked on the case, such as police officers and firefighters, health professionals and street cleaners, as well as the children and grandchildren of those affected. Three decades later, the accident was still present for 1,141 people, who were still monitored by the Assistance Center for Radiation Accident Victims (Cara), of the Goiás Health Department.
These are people contaminated by objects that had been infected by the substance, who were close to the cesium-137 outbreaks or who worked on the case, such as police officers and firefighters, health professionals and street cleaners, as well as the children and grandchildren of those affected.
Since the physical half-life of cesium is around 33 years, several locations, specifically those where the material was handled and where the various parts of the radiotherapy equipment were taken, remained contaminated for decades.
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