CID investigates radioactive source

Apr 15, 2002

THE Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is hunting for three other packages of a radioactive mineral previously suspected to be uranium that has now been classified as Cobalt-60.

By Edris KisambiraTHE Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is hunting for three other packages of a radioactive mineral previously suspected to be uranium that has now been classified as Cobalt-60.Cobalt-60 is commonly used in industrial and medical machines such as those used in the treatment of cancer. It is highly radioactive and can be fatal to humans, animals and plants.The deputy director of CID, Okoth Ochola, said on Saturday tests from the Government Chemist classified the highly radioactive substance as Cobalt-60.“It’s not uranium as we had thought in the first place,” Ochola said.He said they were hunting for the other packages because radiation could affect unknowing people. The first package was recovered from physics Prof. Akisophel Kisolo at his Makerere University laboratory.Two experts from the Vienna-based United Nations nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have inspected the radioactive source, which was at first thought to be uranium, discovered by Uganda Police authorities.IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said the source contained a significant amount of Cobalt-60 in an undisclosed part of the country that could be either poisonous or hazardous to human beings if exposed.Energy minister Syda Bumba said she could not disclose where the radioactive source is.“It is only a specific amount and it is not harmful,” she said.

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