Rajamahendravaram: The missing mild radioactive substance from an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) storage facility at its base camp in Rajamahendravaram, Andhra Pradesh, poses no danger to the local people, authorities said, two days after the material, which was worth Rs 27 lakh, went missing. The missing isotope — which was only 2.5 curie — was kept inside a lead container, meaning the gamma rays released by it would be completely suppressed, officials said. According to a report published in a national daily, the substance, identified as a few grams of Caesium-137 (CS-137), was reported missing from a truck that transported the isotope to the logging shed of the complex. ONGC has been using the material, the size of a small coin, as per the guidelines issued by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
