Thai officials trace missing radioactive cylinder to foundry

By KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Officials in Thailand have traced to a recycling foundry a metal cylinder with radioactive contents that had gone missing from a power plant. They say there appears to be no public health hazard. The 12-inch cylinder containing the radioactive material Caesium-137 was reported missing on March 10 from a piece of machinery at a steam power plant in the eastern province of Prachinburi. Provincial Governor Narong Nakhonchinda says traces of that material were detected Sunday in bags of furnace dust that was a byproduct of the foundry’s smelting process. He says the furnace used for the process was a closed system so radioactive particles could not escape from it. Work at the plant was ordered halted and employees and nearby residents given health checks.