mexico s understand tear year. now the interest fashion pal atomic energy agency said it was properly shield on this truck at the time, but they are saying if that shield is removed for any reason or if is it damaged it could obviously be extremely dangerous. bill: you worry about this getting into the wrong hand. but what would somebody do with this material? reporter: the director general of this group specifically mentioned cobalt 60 in one of his speeches at a nuclear summit. specifically saying these materials up as cobalt 60 could be used along with conventional explosive to make a so called dirty bombs. dirty bombs detonated in a major city could cause mass andic and
here s why. just a few moments ago, i spoke with an employee at the hospital in tijuana, mexico where it originated. he told me it came from a radio therapy machine that had been in operation for 30 years and was not working properly. cobalt is radio active but has a half of only five years and apparently was being disposed of in mexico because it was already spent. that s what we learned this morning. so how did the robbery actually unfold? is it believed this was an untentional target, the truck or might this have been pure coincidence? it doesn t appear it was intentional. the truck was stolen in a town just north of mexico city about 44 kilometers north. the international atomic energy agency issued an alert saying that at the time the truck was stolen, the source was properly shielded. the iaea also said that the cobalt can be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding or damaged.
thanks for your company today. in mexico, the u.s. department of homeland security is helping in the search for a stolen truck carrying radio active material, cobalt 60 which the international atomic energy agency says could be used to make so-called dirty bombs. the agency says all of this happened monday near mexico city. the truck was transporting the material to a waste storage facility. the iaea says the material was properly shielded but could be very dangerous if that shield were damaged or removed. joining us now rafael romo, also evan perez. let s start with you, rafael. tell us about the kind of risk that this material presents in terms of that dirty bomb theory. well, one of the first questions was that exactly, michael. whether it be used to build a dirty bomb. the risk is certainly great but what we have found is that the cobalt that was stolen in the truck more than likely could not be used for that purpose and
now, the use of cobalt 60 in the medical field consists primarily of cancer therapy. most exposure okurs intentionally during medical tests and treatment. this is the dangerous part. gamma rays can cause cancer after extended exposure. iaea director general said in a speech last year that it could be used to make so-called dirty bombs but again the cobalt stolen may not be in any condition to be used for anything more. one thing more. the department of homeland security is involved in the investigation in mexico trying to find the cobalt. that s good news anyway. perhaps, yeah, that s new information. let s go to evan now standing by. evan, what are u.s. authorities doing to try to help out here and track down this truck? are they doing anything to help out? yeah, they ve issued an alert to all the law enforcement agencies along the border. and the homeland security
that casing. then you would are to attach it to an explosive device with the intent to disperse it. just handling cobalt 60 according to experts outside its casing is extremely dangerous. it s been known to make people very sick quickly and it has killed people just from handling it. a worrisome development indeed. brian has more 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation room. thanks very much. the engineer in the deadly new york train derailment was nodding off and caught himself too late. that s how a union representative describes what happened. a lawyer for the engineer william rockefeller calls it highway hypnosis. today, train service resumed at the station in the bronx near the accident site and investigators plan to continue interviews with the engineer. those who know him say he s distraught. i wish it didn t happen to anybody but i sure as hell don t want it happening. sunday s derailment killed four people, injured dozens more. fourth serious accident in seven