How airports catch illegal radioactive cargo
Arktis detectors can also be installed in doorways or used in baggage handling areas. They operate entirely passively, but differ from Geiger counters, the most famous radiation detectors. The special material inside Arctis devices reacts when exposed to subatomic particles emitted by radioactive substances. This reaction produces a tiny amount of light, a flicker, which is measured by sensors and subsequently processed by computer algorithms.
Because different radioactive substances induce clear emission of light, you can often tell right away what material has been discovered—say, an isotope of uranium or cobalt. Panniello explains that his company can integrate notifications into security systems so that employees get automatic alerts on their smartphones when radioactivity is detected nearby. Detections can also be flagged in central security centers where appropriate actions can be coordinated.
His firm also produces a drone equipped with a radiation sensor. It’s not as useful at airports, but it can help investigators scan a large area to find discarded radioactive material.
From smoke detectors to industrial sensors to medical teletherapy devices, there are many examples of objects and devices containing radioactive material. Not everyone poses a risk of harmbut some do. And there are fears that some landfills or heaps of waste were contaminated by people carelessly disposing of more dangerous sources of radioactivity.
A report published last year by King’s College London’s Zenobia Homan and her colleagues highlighted the challenges some countries in South Asia face, for example, in ensuring that radioactive materials are carefully disposed of. “There are people who specifically hunt for it, they might try to steal it or smuggle it in to sell the material,” she says. In May 2021, investigators found a scrap metal dealer in India who was reportedly collected 7 kg of uranium. The authorities detained two men who allegedly tried to sell uranium online.
When radioactive materials are mishandled and then found out in this way, the consequences can be frightening. Let’s take the accident in Goiania. In 1987, two men in Brazil stolen parts of a teletherapy machine from the abandoned Institute of Radiation Therapy in the city of Goiania. They contracted radiation sickness almost immediately and developed vomiting and diarrhea, among other symptoms, but continued to dismantle the machine, which, unbeknownst to them, contained the highly radioactive isotope caesium-137. A few days later, they sold some of the car parts to a landfill.
The landfill owner discovered a glowing blue powder inside one of these parts, which he and his family members extracted and processed, completely unaware of the danger. His 6-year-old niece Leide das Neves Ferreira even played with the powder, drawing it on her face. She and three other people died as a result of radiation exposure. As a result of the incident, about 250 people were infected.
There are other equally strange and tragic examples. In Kramatorsk, Ukraine, cesium-137 was missing from a measuring device at a quarry stuck in concrete and subsequently the wall of an apartment building. As a result, several residents were exposed to radiation in the 1980s. At least two children died before the source was located.
Given that there are many sources of radiation of varying strengths in the wild, constant vigilance is required. Last month the International Atomic Energy Agency published a report about the theft of a teletherapy machine in Mexico in 2013. The apparatus contained cobalt-60 and was removed from its protection before it was left in the field. One of the residents who discovered the car received radiation injuries to his left shoulder and right leg.
Both Homan and Giasse say international rules and protocols for monitoring radioactive material have improved significantly over time, especially at national borders, resulting in findings like those made at Heathrow in December. However, there are still gaps in this protection. Some countries lack the ability to detect the movement of radioactive and nuclear materials across borders, Gyasse said.
Panniello says some countries need to be more proactive in screening airports for radioactivity. “The UK is one of those countries where these things are given due attention,” he says. “But this is an exception.