Radioactive container seized at Chittagong port after traveling through four countries

CTG Correspondent

Radioactive material has been detected in a container carrying iron scrap from Brazil at Chittagong Port.

The Megaport Initiative Radiation Detection System (MEGAPORT) installed at the port detected the signal while the container was being unloaded through Gate No. 4 of the port on Wednesday. The unloading of the container was later suspended and moved to a designated storage area.

The port authority said that the container, which started its journey from Brazil, unloaded cargo at ports in four countries and arrived at Chittagong Port. The container contained old iron scrap, in which three radionuclide isotopes—thorium-232, radium-226, and iridium-192—were detected, which are known to be radioactive.

Port Secretary Omar Farooq said the matter has been reported to the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. The commission’s expert team will conduct tests to determine the level of radioactivity and the risk. “The container has been stored at a safe distance,” he said.

Customs officials said initial tests found a radiation level of one microsievert, which is not high. However, it is difficult to determine the exact level due to the iron pieces and the walls of the container.

Chittagong Customs Joint Commissioner Mohammad Marufur Rahman said, “After receiving the warning signal, the unloading of the container has been stopped and kept in a separate place. Scientists will come and conduct an on-site inspection, after which necessary measures will be taken.”

This is one of five iron scrap containers imported by a businessman from Demra, Dhaka. Earlier, radioactivity was detected for the first time in the country in 2014. At that time, radioactivity was detected in a stainless steel container exported from Chittagong to India at the Colombo port in Sri Lanka. Later, scientists from four countries including the United States and Bangladesh isolated the substance called ‘radium beryllium’, from which 12,000 microsieverts of radiation was being emitted per hour.