Malaysia is searching for an industrial device containing radioactive material that is reported to have gone missing from a pickup truck, police have said.
The device contains an unknown amount of radioactive iridium, which authorities fear could cause radiation exposure or be used as a weapon by militants, according to the New Straits Times.
The 23kg (51lb) device, used in industrial radiography, went missing on a journey to Shah Alam on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur from the town Seremban – around 60km (37 miles) away.
"Yes, there is a report and we are investigating," Mazlan Mansor, police chief of the surrounding state of Selangor, told Reuters in a brief text message. He declined to elaborate.
Two employees of the firm that owned the missing equipment were arrested but later released because of insufficient evidence, it was reported.
Any loss or theft of radioactive material could put it in the hand of militants who may try to build a crude nuclear device or so-called “dirty bomb”, the United Nations atomic agency has warned.
It is not the first time such a device has gone missing, the country’s police chief said.
Inspector-General of Police, Mohamad Fuzi Harun, said a similar device was reported missing last year.
“This incident is not the first and it is understood that it also happened last year,” he told reporters on Monday.
Such a device combines nuclear material with conventional explosives to contaminate an area with radiation.
In contrast, a nuclear weapon uses nuclear fission to trigger a more powerful blast.
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