Hunt launched after Halliburton loses radioactive rod in Texas desert, Fears rod containing americium-241/beryllium could fall into hands of terrorists after employees of US oilfield services company lost it in transit between oil wells

Hunt launched after Halliburton loses radioactive rod in Texas desert, Fears rod containing americium-241/beryllium could fall into hands of terrorists after employees of US oilfield services company lost it in transit between oil wells by Rupert Neate, September 17, 2012, The Guardian
Halliburton has lost a seven-inch radioactive rod somewhere in the Texasdesert. The National Guard has been called in to help to find the device, which employees of the controversial US oilfield services company lost a week ago. The rod, which contains americium-241/beryllium and is stamped with a radiation warning symbol with the words “Danger Radioactive: Do not handle. Notify civil authorities if found”, was lost during a 130-mile journey between oil well sites in Pecos and Odessa last Tuesday. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) warned that the radioactive materials “could cause permanent injury to a person who handled them”. The agency said americium-241/beryllium, known as Am-241, is a “category 3” source of radiation and would normally have to be held for some hours before causing health problems. But the NRC still warned that “it could possibly – although it is unlikely – be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period of days to weeks”. … “Someone wanting to blow this source up would have to find it first.”
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The three-man Halliburton crew, who had been using the rod to identify oil and gas deposits suitable for fracking, have been questioned by the FBI. The NRC said Halliburton was carrying out a forensic search of the truck. “They are literally stripping it down, removing every piece of equipment looking for the source,” the agency said. Halliburton said it would offer a reward to anyone who finds the rod, but cautioned the public to stay at least 25ft away from the device. “The route between the two well sites continues to be combed using specialised equipment in extensive ground searches and aerial analysis,” the company said. Halliburton, which was once run by former vice president Dick Cheney, has previously attracted controversy for its role in BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, building Guantánamo Bay and for working in Iraq, Iran and Libya. [Emphasis added]