Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
This got taken down quickly. It has some information about the nuclear medicine risks.
https://web.archive.org/web/2022032...-ukraine-a-radiation-expert-speaks-from-kyiv/
What is the nuclear risk in Ukraine? A radiation expert speaks from Kyiv.
Vadim Chumak monitored radiation after Chernobyl. He explains what could go wrong now, and says he’s “old enough to sacrifice” his life.
By Jessica Hamzelouarchive March 25, 2022
...
Hospitals have been bombed in Ukraine. Do the radioactive materials in those buildings pose a risk?
It is something we need to consider, because in this war, many unthinkable things have become real.
There are two medical sources of radiation. One is machinery, like X-ray machines or linear accelerators, which are used to treat cancer. They emit some radiation, but only if they are switched on. Once you switch it off, it’s just a piece of metal.
But the second source uses isotopes like cobalt or cesium, which are used in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy, for instance in positron emission tomography (PET). They are physically protected in the hospital, which means they are protected from theft. But they are not protected against being hit by a bomb.
If they were compromised, we might see something like the Goiânia accident in Brazil in 1989. Then, some people stole and dismantled a radiotherapy device from an abandoned hospital site in order to sell the parts as scrap metal. They discovered this small ampule filled with cesium, which glowed blue at night. It’s a long story, but the single destroyed source of radiation contaminated much of Goiânia. Four people died, 20 needed hospital treatment, and 249 people were contaminated. Eighty-five houses were significantly contaminated, and 200 of the people living in these homes were evacuated. So this kind of scenario needs to be considered. And that’s without thinking about malevolent use of the sources.
What kinds of malevolent uses?
The spent fuel assemblies, for example, are a very good material for making a dirty bomb, which is a scenario for a terrorist attack. The more technical term is a radiological dispersion device. If you attach such radioactive sources to a device and explode it, then it will result in contamination of a large area with radioactive material. There are a lot of radiological scenarios of this kind now on the table....
https://web.archive.org/web/2022032...-ukraine-a-radiation-expert-speaks-from-kyiv/
What is the nuclear risk in Ukraine? A radiation expert speaks from Kyiv.
Vadim Chumak monitored radiation after Chernobyl. He explains what could go wrong now, and says he’s “old enough to sacrifice” his life.
By Jessica Hamzelouarchive March 25, 2022
...
Hospitals have been bombed in Ukraine. Do the radioactive materials in those buildings pose a risk?
It is something we need to consider, because in this war, many unthinkable things have become real.
There are two medical sources of radiation. One is machinery, like X-ray machines or linear accelerators, which are used to treat cancer. They emit some radiation, but only if they are switched on. Once you switch it off, it’s just a piece of metal.
But the second source uses isotopes like cobalt or cesium, which are used in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy, for instance in positron emission tomography (PET). They are physically protected in the hospital, which means they are protected from theft. But they are not protected against being hit by a bomb.
If they were compromised, we might see something like the Goiânia accident in Brazil in 1989. Then, some people stole and dismantled a radiotherapy device from an abandoned hospital site in order to sell the parts as scrap metal. They discovered this small ampule filled with cesium, which glowed blue at night. It’s a long story, but the single destroyed source of radiation contaminated much of Goiânia. Four people died, 20 needed hospital treatment, and 249 people were contaminated. Eighty-five houses were significantly contaminated, and 200 of the people living in these homes were evacuated. So this kind of scenario needs to be considered. And that’s without thinking about malevolent use of the sources.
What kinds of malevolent uses?
The spent fuel assemblies, for example, are a very good material for making a dirty bomb, which is a scenario for a terrorist attack. The more technical term is a radiological dispersion device. If you attach such radioactive sources to a device and explode it, then it will result in contamination of a large area with radioactive material. There are a lot of radiological scenarios of this kind now on the table....
