Thais Complain on Radioactive Waste - Update

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

Thais Complain on Radioactive Waste

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The Thai government filed a complaint with 
police Tuesday against a company blamed for mishandling radioactive 
materials and exposing at least nine people to dangerous levels of 
radiation. 

Authorities have traced the radioactive material to three X-ray 
machines dumped in a parking lot. They believe a cylinder containing 
the radioactive isotope cobalt 60 was removed from one of the 
machines and ended up in a scrap yard. 

Five workers at the scrap yard were exposed to radiation earlier this 
month when they opened the cylinder. They were hospitalized over the 
weekend with radiation sickness. 

Four waste collectors who removed the cylinder also came down with 
radiation sickness and were placed in intensive care Monday. 

Representatives of Thailand's Office of Atomic Energy for Peace and 
of the Ministry of Science and Technology filed the complaint on 
Tuesday against Kamol Sukosol Co., a distributor of X-ray equipment, 
said Police Col. Petchaluk Siengkong. 

Police planned to call in the company's executives for questioning. 

The victims of radiation exposure suffered sharp drops in their white 
blood-cell counts, blisters, skin burns and hair loss. 

``The company failed to handle the radioactive waste and put people's 
lives at risk,'' said Ong-art Klampaiboon, an adviser to the science 
ministry. 

Manoon Aramrat, deputy secretary of the Office of Atomic Energy for 
Peace, told reporters that his office will have a meeting to consider 
revoking the company's right to import cobalt 60. 

Dr. Vicharn Kerdwichai of Samut Prakarn Hospital, just south of 
Bangkok, said hundreds of panicked residents living near the scrap 
yard have visited doctors to be checked. 

Cobalt 60 is a radioactive isotope used in the production of gamma 
rays and for sterilization in the food industry. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/scperle
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html