Nigeria reports unexplained loss of nuclear material

AP / The Jerusalem Post ^ | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[anotherview]

Feb. 25, 2003
Nigeria reports unexplained loss of nuclear material

Nigeria has asked the global nuclear agency's help tracking down radioactive material that it says disappeared from the West African nation's oil industry.

"We have ... informed the International Atomic Energy Agency in case somebody stole it and wants to take it outside Nigeria," Shams Elegba, head of Nigeria's nuclear regulatory body, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Elegba gave no further details of the missing material or the circumstances behind its loss.

But he said his agency was working hard to recover it, and had asked the global energy agency for assistance.

Nigeria alerted the public in a broadcast statement last week that an unidentified oil company had reported the loss of the radioactive material used in its operations in the southern Niger Delta oil region.

It urged caution on the part of anyone who may have come in contact with the material, saying nausea or vomiting might be signs of radioactive poisoning.

It was not clear what function the missing material played in oil production. Radioactive material used in the oil industry includes cesium-137, used in rock-surveying equipment and other devices.

Severe burns, and even death, can result from handling an industrial source of cesium-137, a US Environmental Protection Agency fact sheet cautions.

Nigerian authorities are worried the material could fall into the hands of people who might use it for purposes that could threaten public safety and have put all the security agencies on the alert, Elegba said.

Nigeria is the world's sixth-largest oil exporter, and nearly all of the oil comes from the Niger Delta. But it has no known nuclear program.

Multinational oil companies' facilities in the delta are the object of frequent attacks, by saboteurs and by thieves. Residents of the impoverished southeastern delta accuse the companies of polluting the land and returning little of their profits to the area.

[dirtboy]

It was not clear what function the missing material played in oil production.

It's usually used in logging wells.

[cmsgop]

They said they would put it in my Bank Account......

[corkoman]

"One moment it was right here next to the Fritos and then - gone. I have no idea where it went".

[Paul L. Hepperla]

Does this have anything to do with PJ Comix selling a Nigerian Brooklyn Bridge Transit Bonds??

[Darksheare]

"I swear, officer! I don't know where that cesium-137 in the trunk came from! It must be my girlfriend's!"

[freeperfromnj]

Good luck with this thread! I took a lot of ribbing on Thursday when I posted the original story...... and I didn't even have it in breaking news!

[anotherview]

The sad truth is that this is pretty scary stuff, especially coming from a country with its share of Islamic extremists.

[rintense]

*IN CASE* they want to take it outside Nigeria????

Uh huh.

[anotherview]

The sad truth is that this is pretty scary stuff, especially coming from a country with its share of Islamic extremists.

[Dog Gone]

It could be that, or it might have even been something as harmless as NORM, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material, which is a essentially a low-level waste by-product. There are a lot of better things to make a dirty bomb out of, which is what the concern is here, I'm guessing.

[spunkets]

"It's usually used in logging wells."

Can it be used to log in to FR?

[Space Wrangler]

I don't know what worries more; the fact that there is nuclear material missing, or the fact that Nigeria has more of it.

[dirtboy]

Can it be used to log in to FR?

Only if you're looking for oil or gas. It won't detect hot air.

[Grampa Dave]

This awaits your golden touch!

[freeperfromnj]

especially coming from a country with its share of Islamic extremists.

That was my initial thought.

[Darksheare]

Yeah, and the cesium is pretty unimpressed with our jokes as well.
*Aw poo! Stupid cesium!*

[spunkets]

Nigeria

[eyespysomething]

Isn't Africa supposed to help Iraq with disarming?

[Beck_isright]

It was signed for by some guy named Al Q.