Thai authorities are trying to find a dangerous radioactive material that has mysteriously disappeared from a power plant .
According to Straitstimes , during a routine inspection on March 10, a power plant employee in Prachin Buri province (east of Bangkok) discovered that a 30cm long, 13cm diameter steel pipe had disappeared without a trace.
Metal tube image. (Photo: Bangkok Post).
A representative for the National Power Supply Company, which owns the plant, said a search had been launched over the weekend, but had yet to find a 25kg metal tube containing the radioactive cesium-137. high radiation .
The company believes the radioactive tube may have fallen from a wall mount, about 18 meters high, several days earlier. They are said to have offered a reward of 50,000 baht for information to help find this object.
Officials from the Office of Atomics for Peace inspected the plant and found no radioactive leaks. Police also searched scrap metal stores, but to no avail.
“We are asking people in the area to help find it,” Prachin Buri Governor Narong Nakornjinda said. “The radioactive tube is sealed, but if someone opens it and comes into contact with the substance, they can get rashes and burns.”
A senior official in charge of Thailand’s atomic affairs said that in the event of a broken radioactive tube, people who come into direct contact are at high risk of cancer and other serious diseases.
The missing tube was part of the equipment used to measure vapor pressure at the plant . Officials have not said how much cesium-137 is in the tube.