The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Hazmat team was called into action yesterday after a canister of radioactive material was discovered at a local scrapyard.
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Shortly before midday yesterday, the CoCT control room received an urgent distress call from a scrapyard in Beaconvale.
While offloading a tipper truck, employees discovered a canister labelled as hazardous radioactive material.
The City immediately dispatched its traffic services to secure the area while also dispatching the Fire and Rescue Hazmat teams.
Upon arrival, Fire and Rescue personnel followed the proper protocols for dealing with radioactive materials. They were able to approach and assess the potential risk thanks to remote-controlled sensor technology.
However, fears were confirmed when the suspicious container emitted high levels of gamma rays, indicating the presence of decaying radioactive waste within it.
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‘SAPS Bomb Squad was also brought to the scene. With firefighters well prepared for any sort of nuclear disaster incident, they used a variety of equipment to safeguard the scene and to identify the radioactive material,’ said Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith.
‘The radioactive material was discovered to be that of Iridium 192, a manmade isotope of Iridium, a component commonly used in gauges for industrial radiography, to detect flaws in metal components. Irridium 192 is believed to become harmless after around 150 days, but still requires the correct methods of disposal, as regulated.’
‘At this moment, the protective lead casing of the fuel rods has been confirmed as breached and is emitting high levels of radiation. SAPS and Nersa are on scene and will attempt to locate the original source of the radio-active fuel rods, using the serial numbers attached.’
‘The scene has been made safe and the radio-active material secured.’
Smith added that the radioactive waste will be removed using specially designed robotics today.
Meanwhile, Chief Fire Officer Clinton Manuel expressed his appreciation on the professional manner in which the firefighter hazmat technicians responded and handled the situation.
‘We are extremely fortunate to have a municipal Fire and Rescue service that is so well equipped and that has regularly invested in the required specialized training and skills. Our service responds to a wide variety of emergency situations every single day, but nothing can be more harrowing, having to respond to a call of exposed nuclear radioactive waste. Their professionalism displayed, using their equipment, technology and training, allows every resident to rest assured, Cape Town really is the best Fire and Rescue Service in South Africa.’
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Picture: JP Smith / Facebook