Thai firm faces radioactive waste charge -minister

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Thai firm faces radioactive waste charge -minister

BANGKOK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Thai authorities said on Tuesday 
they would file charges against a local firm for improper disposal of 
radioactive waste and equipment that has now put nine people in 
hospital with radiation poisoning. 

``All radioactive equipment is supposed to be kept in safe housing, 
not in the open air,'' said Science, Technology and Environment 
Minister Arthit Ourairat. 

``On Tuesday evening, we will file complaints to the police to press 
charges against the company,'' he told reporters ahead of a weekly 
cabinet meeting. 

He identified the company as Kamol Sukosol Electric Co, a Thai 
distributor of imported radiotherapy machines. A spokesman for the 
company said it would consult its lawyers on the matter. 

On Monday, officials from the government's Office of Atomic 
Energy for Peace (OAEP), removed three radiotherapy machines 
from undeveloped land owned by Kamol Sukosol in an eastern 
Bangkok suburb and moved them it into OAEP safe storage. 

Officials initially had said three canisters believed to contain 
radioactive waste had been found. 

The machines were found after five workers at a junkyard were 
admitted to hospital last weekend suffering from exposure to cobalt 
60 radiation after handling parts from one machine. 

Four other people were admitted to hospital with radiation exposure 
on Monday, spokesman Amphon Jindawatthana said. They were in 
less serious condition than the other five because they did not 
come into direct contact with parts with radiation. 

``Five other patients, who are workers at the junkyard, are in 
serious but stable condition as they directly contacted the cobalt 
60 radiation while disassembling machine parts,'' he said. 

DE-COMMISSIONED RADIOTHERAPY MACHINES 

Cobalt 60 is an isotope artificially produced to be used as a source 
of gamma rays or high energy radiation. It is used in cancer 
treatment machines, in food irradiation and in glass colouring, 
OAEP officials said. 

Chaweng Suwannarat, Kamol Sukosol's manager for medical 
equipment, told Reuters on Tuesday: ``We'll let our lawyers handle 
those allegations by the government.'' 

He said one of the machines was de-commissioned from the 
National Cancer Institute and another from a hospital in a 
northeastern province of Kon Kaen. 

The third, bought from the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (OECL) by 
a private clinic in Bangkok in 1974, was kept at the company's site 
because the clinic did not have a proper storage place, Chaweng 
added. 

The Canadian embassy in Bangkok said OECL was ``concerned'' 
about the incident, but held no responsibility for it. 

``We are concerned about the people who are exposed to radiation 
in Thailand,'' an embassy spokesman told Reuters, adding that all 
the details were not yet available. 
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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
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