Radioactive Material Found in Thailand Smelter During Search for Missing Cylinder

This image made on March 14, 2023, shows a radioactive cylinder, a steel tube 30 cm (12 inches) long and 13 cm (5 inches) in diameter that has gone missing from a steam power plant in Thailand's eastern province of Prachinburi. The video was taken in December 2022. (The Prachinburi Provincial Public Relations Office via AP)

Authorities in Thailand have found traces of radioactive Caesium-137 at a smelting plant in Prachin Buri province, which were linked to a metal cylinder that went missing from a power plant earlier this month.

The cylinder containing the radioactive material Caesium-137 measured 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) long and was reported missing from a steam power plant of the National Power Plant 5A in Prachin Buri province on March 10.

Ronnarong Nakornjinda, governor of Prachin Buri, said on March 20 that Caesium-137-contaminated residue had been detected in “big bags” at a steel melting factory in the Kabin Buri district, CNA reported.

“As soon as this was confirmed in the evening, we cordoned off the area immediately and prohibited people from entering it. The authorities also checked nearby areas for the substances,” Ronnarong told reporters.

“When the radioactive detection equipment was placed close to the bags, the reading showed there were Caesium-137 substances there. But at about 10 meters away, the reading showed no such substances,” he added.

Ronnarong said health checks will be conducted on all 70 employees at the smelting plant. All workers have been told to temporarily stop working as a safety precaution following the finding of radioactive material.

Health officials said that prolonged direct contact with radioactive material can cause skin rashes, hair loss, canker sores, fatigue, and vomiting. They said that short-term contact with Caesium-137 may not show immediate symptoms but could lead to a higher risk of cancer.

The Office of Atoms for Peace’s secretary general, Permsuk Sutchaphiwat, said the power plant company did not immediately notify the authorities about the missing cylinder and it remains unclear how it went missing.

Authorities have also been unable to identify whether the radioactive substances found at the smelting plant were from the missing cylinder. It remains unclear whether the missing cylinder has been located.

“Police are seriously working to find out whether that’s the case. But we know for sure that Caesium-137 has been found in Kabin Buri district of Prachin Buri, and that such substances aren’t easily found in such an amount,” Permsuk told CNA.

Thailand’s missing radioactive cylinder came after Australian authorities launched a hunt for a tiny radioactive capsule in late January, which is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck after a bolt worked loose.

Australia’s officials secured the missing capsule containing Caesium-147—which emits radiation equivalent to 10 X-rays per hour—near the Great Northern Highway in western Australia after a frantic weeklong search.

In 2000, illegally disposed canisters containing the radioactive substance Cobalt-60 were found in a junkyard in Samut Prakarn, a suburb of Bangkok.

At least five people were hospitalized after being exposed to radiation when the canisters were opened by the scrapyard workers, unaware of the hazard. The cylinders were believed to have come from a medical X-ray machine.

Nina Nguyen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.