Material Thought To Be Cobalt-60
Scientists in India are probing the presence of a radioactive material at a New Delhi scrap market.
The material, which was discovered on Thursday night, has caused injuries to five people with two in a critical condition in a local hospital.
Police cordoned off the Mayapuri scrap market in the city and sealed all nearby shops while nuclear scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Narora Atomic Power Plant in Bulandshahr were involved in an operation to identify the source of the radioactive material.
"The experts have identified the material as Cobalt-60. They have also identified six sources of the material from the scrap market," National Disaster Management Authority member and former BARC director B B Bhattacharya said. “Cobalt-60 is used in fabrication work, especially for welding steel. It is also used in radiotherapy for treating cancer.”
However, Cobalt-60 is also one of the nine materials suitable for radiological use for making a so-called ‘dirty bomb’. The metal, along with Caesium-137 surpasses uranium and thorium for its radioactive strength.
The presence of the nuclear material – and in such a public place - has caused fear within India’s security establishment with Prime Minister P Chidamabram being been briefed about the incident.
Experts say while a nuclear weapon obtains its explosive power from nuclear fission, a dirty bomb involves no nuclear fission, and is used like a conventional weapon.
Local scrap dealers said the owner of the shop, Deepak Jain, and his employees Ram Ji Yadav, Ram Kalk Yadav, Gaurav and Rajender Prasad, fell unconscious while they were cutting metal and a white fluid oozed out causing severe burns. Mr Jain had brought the scrap from Faridabad, through Mr Prasad, on 12 March. Mr Prasad first tried to cut open the waste but this led to the withering away of his fingernails. Mr Jain then put the material away but by 25 March he began to have headaches, his hair began to fall out and his skin started to show signs of decay. After consulting a doctor his skin began to turn black and he was admitted into New Delhi’s Apollo Hospital on 4 April. The radiation safety officer at Apollo informed India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) the next day and two officials were subsequently sent to Khajan Basti at the Mayapuri scrap market.
Doctors say that Mr Jain's bone marrow is significantly suppressed and his condition is quite serious. The condition of the four labourers has also been deteriorating since Friday afternoon and they have been shifted from the city’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Another trader, Himanshu Jain, is also at AIIMS.
Meanwhile local police are trying to find out if the material originated from abroad.
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