An Air Force C-17 Globemaster III recently
recovered three large, radioactive vessels from Mexico as part of the National
Nuclear Security Administration's radiological security program, NNSA announced.
"This work is a reflection of our shared threat reduction and nuclear
security goals," said
Anne
Harrington, NNSA deputy nuclear
nonproliferation administrator, in the July 28
release.
The irradiator units were used in Mexico to destroy cattle parasites over the
past 30 years and contained more than a large amount of highly radioactive
US-supplied Cesium-137 isotope, according to the release. Since the material
could ostensibly be used by terrorists to construct a radiological "dirty
bomb," the units were packaged for airlift back to the US, where they were
then transshipped by road to a secure storage facility, officials noted.
