Radioactive Substance Stolen

Police have released pictures of the man who stole some iridium 192 from a not-very-secure office earlier in the week:

TOKYO (AFP) — A radioactive substance that can be used to make a dirty bomb has been stolen in Japan, police and officials said Tuesday, warning the public not to go near it.

A sealed metal container holding a small amount of iridium 192 was stolen on Monday from the office near Tokyo of a company that inspects industrial products, police said.

Iridium 192 is commonly used in cancer radiation treatment but it is also cited in scenarios by anti-terrorism investigators as an ingredient for a makeshift nuclear bomb.

Police said they did not know the motive of whoever stole the substance from the office of Non-Destructive Inspection Co. Ltd in the Tokyo suburb of Ichihara.

A security camera at the warehouse caught a person wearing a baseball cap and work tunic carrying away the 22-kilogramme (48.4-pound) container, the company and police said.

“We are examining the tape and looking for the person,” a police spokesman said.