Cobalt 60 warning skin#

The most recent case in Thailand follows a similar incident in Western Australia in January when a tiny capsule, also containing Caesium-137, went missing along a remote outback highway while being transported from an iron ore mine to a depot in Perth.Īfter a challenging six-day search, the capsule was eventually found and officials are still investigating how it apparently fell off the back of a vehicle during transit.

Nearly 2,000 others who lived nearby were exposed to radiation.īut Pennapa said the canister that is currently missing is far less radioactive than the incident in 2000. Some workers suffered burn-like injuries, and eventually three people died and seven others suffered radiation injuries, the report said. In 2000, according to the Congressional Research Service report, canisters containing another radioactive isotope, cobalt-60, were bought by two scrap collectors, who took it to a junkyard where it was cut open. It is not the first time something like this has happened in Thailand.

Cobalt 60 warning skin#

If it’s high, the first thing we will see is skin irritation.” “If general people (come into) contact unknowingly, the health effects will depend on the level of the (radiation) intensity. Pennapa, from the Office of Atoms for Peace, urged the public not to panic. It's tiny and potentially deadlyĮxperts warn that Caesium-137 can create serious health problems for people who come into contact with it: skin burns from close exposure, radiation sickness and potentially deadly cancer risks, especially for those exposed unknowingly for long periods of time.Ĭaesium-137 has a half-life of about 30 years, which means it could pose a risk to the population for decades to come, if not found. Western Australia's Department of HealthĪ radioactive capsule is missing in Australia. “We have dispatched our teams to recycle shops around the area… we still couldn’t find it.”Īn illustration provided by Western Australia's Department of Health shows the size of the capsule compared to a coin. “It is unclear if the item was stolen and sold to a recycling shop or misplaced elsewhere,” Mongkol said. Police have examined CCTV footage from the plant, Si Maha Phot district police chief Mongkol Thopao told CNN – but were hindered by “limited views” of the machine. For areas we cannot reach, we have dispatched drones and robots.”Īlso involved in the search are Thai police, who believe the cylinder has been missing since February but was only officially reported lost by the National Power Plant 5 company on Friday. “We are (using) survey equipment to detect for signals. “We are searching in waste recycling shops in the area,” she said. Search underway for missing radioactive capsule in Western Australiaĭeputy Secretary General Pennapa Kanchana told CNN on Wednesday they were using radioactive detection equipment to locate the cylinder. Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA There is also a small peak at 0.662 MeV due to gamma radiation from the decay of technetium-99m.Chief Health Officer Dr Andrew Robertson speaks at a Department of Fire and Emergency Services press conference. The peak at energies of 1.17 and 1.33 MeV is due to the gamma radiation from cobalt-60. The gamma spectrum of cobalt-60 is shown in the figure below. Cobalt radiotherapy is used to treat a variety of cancers, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer. It does not decay into any other isotopes.Ĭobalt radiotherapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses cobalt-60 as a source of radiation.

Cobalt-60 is a stable isotope of cobalt.

Cobalt-60 is also used in industrial radiography to inspect the internal structure of materials. This makes it useful for sterilising medical equipment and for treating cancer. Cobalt-60 has a number of applications in industry and medicine.

It is produced in nuclear reactors by neutron bombardment of cobalt-59.

Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.27 years.

Cobalt-60 is a gamma emitter with a photon energy of 1.17 MeV. It is produced in nuclear reactors and is used in radiation therapy and industrial radiography. Cobalt-60 emits gamma radiation, which is highly effective in destroying cancer cells. It is used in radiation therapy to treat cancer. Cobalt-48 is used to study the movement of carbon in plants.Ĭobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of cobalt. Cobalt-51 is used to study the movement of water in plants. Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope that is used in radiation therapy to treat cancer. The most stable isotope of cobalt is cobalt-59.

Isotopes of cobalt are important for many reasons.