A dangerous device with radioactive elements was stolen in Ecuador

The Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources of Ecuador reported the theft of Troxler Model 3430 Nuclear Density Gauge. "The incident occurred at about 12:30 on July 28, apparently on the road Pifo - Quito" - said in a statement.

Troxler Model 3430 Nuclear Density Gauge

Authorities warned that the stolen device contains two sources of ionizing radiation that cannot be felt, smelt and seen, but is transmitted in the air over a distance of several meters.

The incident was reported to Undersecretariat for Control and Nuclear Applications of the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources of Ecuador.

In November 2019, similar equipment was stolen from the Salesian Polytechnic University and dumped on one of wastelands in Quito a few weeks later.

The authorities of Ecuador ask citizens not to use, disclose or damage equipment, as this could be life-threatening. The use of stolen equipment with a serial number is illegal, as it requires a special permit. In this regard, the device has no commercial value.

"If you know where the equipment is, do not use it, do not open it and call 911 immediately," officials told the public.

The principle of operation of nuclear density gauge is based on dependence of flux density of gamma radiation passing through the controlled medium on density of the measured medium. The gamma radiation flux is registered by a detection unit in which the gamma radiation flux is converted into a sequence of statistically distributed impulses, the average frequency of which depends on the density of the measured medium.

Troxler Electronics Laboratories manufactures instruments (Troxler) for radioisotope measurements of density of soil, concrete, crushed stone, asphalt concrete and cement concrete.

The instruments use two measurement schemes: depth or surface.

To measure the density and moisture content in a soil layer with a thickness of 5 to 30 cm, a depth scheme is used, when radiation source (137Cs or 241Am) is placed in a capsule and lowered into the borehole, and the impulse recording equipment is on the surface. Using the depth scheme, penetrating radiation is measured.

To measure the density at a depth of 10 cm, a surface scheme is used, when the capsule with radiation source and the detector are located in the device on the surface, and the density of scattered flux of γ quanta is measured.