Thai authorities are searching for a missing cylinder containing radioactive material. It is a 25-kilogram steel cylinder of 30 centimeters with a diameter of 13 centimeters. The cylinder contains the dangerous substance Caesium-137.
The cylinder was in a coal plant part of a device to measure steam pressure and was nowhere to be seen during the routine check last Friday. The owner of the power plant thinks that it fell off a mount on the wall somewhere in the days before. A radiation study shows that the cylinder is no longer on site. Where it is now is not known.
The governor of Prachinburi province, where the coal plant is located, asks people in the area to join the search. It is emphasized that the radioactive material is in a closed and protective shell. Anyone who breaks that Shell is exposed to a high risk of cancer and serious diseases, according to Permsuk Sutchaphiwat of the Thai atomic agency who advises leaving the cylinder mainly intact.
