What is a radioactive source? Simply put, something that carries radioactive material is a radioactive source. Radioactive sources contain substances made of natural or artificial radionuclides that emit ionizing radiation such as gamma rays, α particles, β particles, and neutron rays, and have many applications in reality.
In terms of classification, radioactive sources can be divided into three categories: calibration sources, open sources and sealed sources, of which calibration sources are mainly used for the calibration of radiation measuring instruments. Open source, also known as non-sealed source, radioactive materials are directly applied in liquid or powder form in the fields of industry and agriculture, scientific research and medical treatment. Many types of sealed sources are also the most used in the fields of industry, agriculture and scientific research and medicine, and they are also the most common category. Regardless of the type of radioactive source, it is not possible to be in close contact for a long time, especially in the case of no protective device, many radioactive sources are very dangerous.
According to Mexican media reports: On April 11, Mexican security services issued an alert to at least nine states in the country, saying that a highly dangerous sealed radioactive source had been stolen, calling on everyone to pay more attention and take preventive measures.
It turned out that at about 5 o'clock local time on April 11, a set of industrial radiography equipment was violently stolen at a highway entrance in the city of Teoloyukan in Mexico, and the thieves destroyed the carriage and stole a container-like device weighing about 25 kilograms inside, which was not big. Measuring 22.9 cm in height, 33.8 cm in width and 19.1 cm in length, it looks like a person can easily take it away, but it contains a radioactive source of iridium-192 with serial number TT3303, which is extremely harmful to the health of living organisms.
↑Similar to the metal can device in the picture above
When mexico's National Civil Defense Agency learned of this, it immediately issued a warning: "If the radioactive source is removed from the container, manipulated or in direct contact with it for a few minutes to a few hours, it will cause permanent damage (to the organism), while if it is maintained for several hours or longer, the injury will be fatal." ”
The agency therefore recommends: Whether the thief or others, if they are owning or not far from the device, then please quickly leave the device, escape to at least 30 meters away, because its radiation radius can reach at least 30 meters, and warn the thief or other person not to touch or approach the device, it is recommended to immediately notify the police or relevant departments, and record close contacts with it, and immediately carry out medical examination and treatment.
Is this thing that scary? Don't underestimate the source of radiation. Here may be to talk about an incident that happened in Jilin Province, China, at about 7:30 a.m. on January 5, 1996, a 20-year-old Jilin boy named Song Xuewen found a string of white metal objects similar to key chains on the ground on the way to work, and the place where he found it was in the factory where he worked, he also thought whose key had fallen, asked a few people without losing it, and he put it in his pants pocket to work.
At 9 o'clock, he suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous, thought it was a cold, and did not take it seriously, but after ten minutes he felt more and more uncomfortable, and then vomited violently, and the workers saw that he was not normal, so they sent him to the hospital.
At more than 5 o'clock in the afternoon, its construction team leader arrived, asked him about the condition, and then asked him whether he had found a white key chain similar to something, Song Xuewen said yes, the captain immediately tensed up, telling him that the string of "key chain" was a core piece of equipment in the factory's ray flaw detector, lost due to the operator's misoperation, which had the nuclear radioactive material Iridium-192, which must not be closely contacted.
Why can't iridium-192, the same substance as the radioactive source equipment lost in Mexico recently, be touched? Because iridium-192 is a radioactive substance, one of the 34 isotopes of synthetic iridium, it can be used for industrial flaw detection or medical treatment, but it must be used in the case of a protective device, otherwise it is easy to expose the human body to radiation through breathing and touching.
If the radiation dose is large, acute neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms will occur, manifested by dizziness, nausea, decreased appetite, vomiting, and a burning sensation in the skin, and if exposed to it for a long time, it will cause permanent damage to the body, even fatal.
The white key chain that Song Xuewen picked up contained iridium-192, which was kept in his trouser pocket for about 4 hours, while the close contact time was about 9 hours. After knowing the situation, the local hospital thought that it could not be treated locally, so he quickly transferred to Beijing 307 Hospital, which is the most authoritative hospital in China for the treatment of nuclear radiation diseases, Song Xuewen was carefully treated in the hospital, but although he saved his life, his legs were not saved, and then he underwent multiple surgeries, and was able to live for another 23 years, and died in 2019.
The impact of a loss of radioactive sources in Harbin on July 13, 2005 was even more severe, resulting in more than 100 people radiating, including one dead.
In 2014, there was a similar incident in Nanjing, where iridium-192 was already used 70 percent, but even so, it caused partial damage to the picker's body, and its contact part had to be fleshed and skinned.
Iridium-192, which caused serious damage to them, is actually only the size of a green bean, don't look at it small, but the radioactivity is quite strong, as the Mexican Civil Defense Agency said, if there is no protective device, within 30 meters is not safe.
Therefore, for items with radioactive sources, we must operate according to the norms, if you do not have to go into close contact, then the farther away the better, and then do not pick up things you do not know, to steal is even worse.
But everyone may think that the radioactive source is something that will be applied under specific conditions, and it is rare to touch it, but in fact, when you go to the hospital to do some kind of perspective examination, you have to make some contact with it, and in the usual work and life, when you need to carry out certain detections, you must also deal with certain radioactive sources, such as when entering the railway station, airport, subway, etc. When you enter the security inspection inside the train station, airport, subway, etc., when detecting the gaps in pipes or stone, you will use equipment containing radioactive sources.
And usually people are more common radioactive source equipment and density meters, thickness meters, hygrometers, X-ray fluorescence emitters, the manufacture of radioisotope thermoelectric generators, self-luminescent signal signs, gun sights, static elimination devices, radioactive lightning rods, self-luminescent signs, smoke detectors, etc., it can be said that the number is not small, some specialized in detection or detection and other fields, as well as the production or sale of the above equipment in the enterprise has more radioactive devices.
The above-mentioned radioactive source equipment is basically safe in normal operation, because most of the equipment has safety protection devices, but most of the core radiation inside cannot be touched, so it is also necessary to pay special attention when using.
Resources:
Global Network April 12 article "Mexican government issues alarm to nine states after theft of equipment containing radioactive sources"