Overview
- Argentina’s nuclear regulator activated its national emergency system after staff at the Instituto de Cardiología de Rosario reported a missing cesium-137 calibration capsule that was last used on June 12 and found absent during checks on June 16.
- The device is a small gel source inside a clear plastic vial stored in a cylindrical lead shield about 12 cm high and 10 cm across and authorities have told the public not to touch or move any object matching that description.
- Police, specialized radiological teams and federal emergency units are searching restricted areas, auditing access logs and reviewing who last handled the source as investigators try to reconstruct how it left a controlled laboratory.
- Reports conflict on the source’s activity level, with local complaint filings citing about 103 mCi while the Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear told CNN the figure was 65 μCi, a discrepancy that materially changes exposure and response calculations.
- While officials say the risk is very low if the capsule remains intact inside its shielding, experts point to the 1987 Goiânia accident to warn that opening or damaging such a source can cause severe contamination and long-term health and cleanup costs.