By Dennis Romero and Joe Kottke -
NBC News
A device containing radioactive material went missing in the Houston, Texas area and authorities said Saturday they are looking to recover it before anyone is hurt.
It is an x-ray camera that contains radioactive material "sealed within multiple layers of protection," so it is unlikely to pose much of a threat unless fully uncovered, the Department of State Services of California said in a statement. Texas Health.
“It has a radioactive symbol (☢️) on the side, but if someone were to open the part of the capsule where the radioactive material is, it would be extremely dangerous, they could even lose their fingers,” said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the department.
“We want people to let us know if they see it, so we can get it back,” she added.
An x-ray camera like the one lost in Houston, a device containing sealed radioactive material. Texas Department of State Health
The device, a kind of portable X-ray machine used to look at hidden structures, is in common use in the construction and oil industries.
He disappeared Thursday from a truck parked outside a restaurant
where the workers who had him went for lunch, Anton reported.
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Authorities searched for the device in a 5-mile radius around the restaurant in the north of the city, but did not find it.
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"Obviously we have already contacted the pawnshops, because when something like this happens and someone tries to pawn it, the pawnshops are warned, as are the places where they sell scrap," added Anton.
The device, which weighs about 53 pounds, belongs to the Statewide Maintenance Company, according to a statement from the department.
Texas health officials have warned in the past that these types of devices
are safe as long as they are handled properly
.
"The entire chamber is sealed in a one-and-a-half-inch steel container contained within a metal box with symbols that warn of radioactive material. Radiation levels outside the chamber are not dangerous," authorities said in 2020.
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In the spring of 2020, Texas authorities found an X-ray camera that had been lost in the Stonewall community during a flood.
The aircraft was found intact despite being swept away for miles by floodwaters, according to NBC News affiliate station KXAN.
According to experts, there were no radiation leaks after the incident.
In February, a small, highly radioactive capsule that fell from a truck in the Australian desert was found on the side of a road after authorities scanned an area almost the size of California.