DEVELOPING: Radioactive Equipment Reportedly Missing Near Southern Border

Radioactive equipment has reportedly gone missing near the U.S. southern border.

According to KVIA, radioactive equipment disappeared in southern New Mexico.

It appears Mexico’s federal government reported the missing radioactive material from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

KVIA reports:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission radioactive equipment disappeared in southern New Mexico, according to Mexico’s federal government.

The missing equipment is described as a container with Iridium-192, which is used for medical treatments and also in the oil industry, according to the commission.

“Ir-192 is a manmade radioactive element that is formed from nonradioactive iridium metal in a nuclear reactor,” the CDC writes about Iridium-192 (Ir-192)

“Ir-192 used in medicine is in the form of tiny seeds, each about the size of a grain of rice. Industrial gauges hold pencil-like metal sticks of solid Ir-192 or small pencil-like tubes that contain pellets of Ir-192,” the CDC added.

Mexican officials said contact with the equipment was lost between Carlsbad and Jal, New Mexico.

Exposure or direct contact with the material inside the equipment is considered a category 2 risk, according to the Atomic Energy Agency.

No word on the missing radioactive material from U.S. officials.

International Crisis Room 360 posted this update about the missing radioactive equipment on Monday.

The missing equipment is described as a container with Iridium-192, which is used for medical treatments and also in the oil industry, according to the commission.#radioactiveequipment #Iridium-192 #NewMexicohttps://t.co/QCsLIV8YRl pic.twitter.com/WrNs1bO0IB

— International Crisis Room 360 (@ICR360) July 3, 2023

KVIA added:

Mexico said being exposed to the radiation can cause permanent injuries or can turn deadly in matter of minutes or days.

Civil Protection Units were activated for search protocols to secure the equipment.

Although the radioactive material disappeared on the U.S. side of the border, Mexico issued alerts for the states of Sonora and Chihuahua.

The CDC writes about Iridium-192:

Exposure to Ir-192 can increase the risk for cancer because of its high-energy gamma radiation. External exposure to Ir-192 can cause burns, acute radiation sickness, and even death. Internal exposure could occur only if a person were to swallow one of the Ir-192 seeds or pellets. Internal exposure from Ir-192 could cause burns in the stomach and intestines if the high-energy industrial pellets are swallowed. Ir-192 seeds and pellets would be excreted in the feces. Long-term health effects of internal exposure would depend on how strong the seeds or pellets were and how long they stayed in the body.