Iraq recovers 'Missing' Radioactive Material.

Iraq recovers 'Missing' Radioactive Material. (Naharnet).

Iraqi authorities on Sunday recovered radioactive material that had gone missing in the country's south more than three months earlier, the environment ministry's spokesman said.

"We found the radioactive material that was lost by a Turkish... company," Amir Ali Hassoun told AFP.

The material "still had the same properties and did not lead to the injury of anyone," Hassoun said.

He said the environment ministry will keep the material -- Iridium-192 -- until it can be returned to its owner, which another official earlier said was Turkish firm SGS.

The material was found near a wall at a petrol station in Zubair, a town near the southern port city of Basra, Hassoun said.

Mahdi Raykan, the head of the Zubair security committee, confirmed that the material was found in the town, and said it was recovered following a tip that a strange item was at the site. Read the full story here.

Iraq: Nov 2015 Radioactive material stolen from oil facility, fears it could be used as 'dirty bomb' if obtained by ISIS.

Iraq: Nov 2015 Radioactive material stolen from oil facility, fears it could be used as 'dirty bomb' if obtained by ISIS. (DailyStar).

Iraq is searching for "highly dangerous" radioactive material stolen last year, according to an environment ministry document and seven security, environmental and provincial officials who fear it could be used as a weapon if acquired by ISIS.

The material, stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer, went missing in November from a storage facility near the southern city of Basra belonging to U.S. oilfield services company Weatherford, the document obtained by Reuters showed and officials confirmed.

A spokesman for Iraq's environment ministry said he could not discuss the issue, citing national security concerns. A Weatherford spokesman in Iraq declined to comment, and the company's Houston headquarters did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

The material, which uses gamma rays to test flaws in materials used for oil and gas pipelines in a process called industrial gamma radiography, is owned by Istanbul-based SGS Turkey, according to the document and officials.

The document, dated Nov. 30 and addressed to the ministry's Center for Prevention of Radiation, describes "the theft of a highly dangerous radioactive source of Ir-192 with highly radioactive activity belonging to SGS from a depot belonging to Weatherford in the Rafidhia area of Basra province.".

"We are afraid the radioactive element will fall into the hands of Daesh," said a senior security official with knowledge of the theft, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

"They could simply attach it to explosives to make a dirty bomb," said the official, who works at the interior ministry and spoke on condition of anonymity as he is also not authorized to speak publicly. Read the full story here.

Half ton of radioactive maxi pads from Dubai seized at Beirut airport.

Half ton of radioactive maxi pads from Dubai seized at Beirut airport.(DS).

BEIRUT: Authorities seized 30 boxes of radioactive maxi pads that had arrived at Beirut’s airport Friday, a source at the airport told The Daily Star.

Electronic scanners at the customs department detected 554 kilograms of not-so-sanitary pads that had arrived in Beirut from Dubai, the source added.

A specialized judiciary launched an investigation into the case. More tests will be carried out measure the levels of radioactivity, the source explained.

The discovery was the latest in a series of radioactive material discovered at Beirut's airport and sea port amid an ongoing crackdown on radioactive imports. Hmmm.....Radioactive maxi pads.....Dubai? 'Dirty' bomb Test runs?