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  (Source: opensecrets.org)
Halliburton lost a 7-inch radioactive cylinder used for hydraulic fracturing

Oil company Halliburton has lost an important instrument for its drilling processes somewhere in Texas, and if touched by humans, it could be harmful. 
 
Halliburton recently announced that is lost a 7-inch radioactive cylinder that is used for hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a process where oil and gas companies insert water and other components underground to break up subterranian formations. By doing this, natural gas is free to leak to the surface. 
 
However, Halliburton slipped up and lost this 7-inch radioactive cylinder somewhere in West Texas. While the cylinder doesn't produce radiation in a way that would kill humans quickly, it's still dangerous. The Texas Department of State Health Service warns that humans should stay back 20-25 feet if they come in contact with it. 
 
The cylinder, which has "Do Not Handle" and "Danger Radioactive" printed on its sides, contains beryllium and americium-241. This form of americium can be found in some smoke detectors. 
 
Why is this combination dangerous to humans? Alpha particles given off by americium-241 form neutrons when mixed with beryllium. The alpha particles can easily be shielded by a piece of paper, but the neutrons require much more than paper to protect humans from exposure. 
 
The neutrons in the cylinder are 10 times more powerful than X-rays, and the International Atomic Energy Agency rated this mixture as a Category 3 for radioactive sources (it's a five-category scale, where a Category 1 is the most dangerous). A Category 3 means that a person could suffer "permanent injury" if they handled it for a number of hours, and they could die if they handled it for a number of weeks. 
 
If found, the Texas Department of State Health Service said not to touch the tool, but rather contact law enforcement. The Texas National Guard has recently joined the search as well. 
 
Earlier this year, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey said that the number of earthquakes in the middle of the United States had increased from 2009 until now compared to decades previous to the year 2000. They loosely blamed tools like this radioactive cylinder, which cause hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for the increase in earthquakes. 
 
 
 

Source: MSNBC


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Uses
By hughlle on 9/17/2012 9:39:16 PM , Rating: 2
I'm just curious as to what it could potentially be used for to require the national guard to go out looking for it. I mean if someone were to misplace a handgun, which could be instantaneously lethal, i don't think that you'd get that kind of assistance in finding it again, so what about this warrants the use of the national guard? any nuclear physicists in the house?




RE: Uses
By Performance Fanboi on 9/17/2012 10:02:17 PM , Rating: 2
Dirty bomb comes to mind. That thing needs to be found asap.


RE: Uses
By Ringold on 9/17/2012 10:32:57 PM , Rating: 2
It's seven inches of material that takes weeks of direct contact, and if the device was broken apart, sounds fairly harmless.

That's a pretty crappy dirty bomb source. They'd kill more people buying up common chemicals available at any Walmart and applying them intelligently. This is an interesting story, but a non-event I think. Basically amounts to "If you find this thing, which is covered in warning labels, do not eat it or insert in eyes."

Hate to bust your bubble too, but Soviet-era bouys all around Russia are powered by RTGs, and crooks that've tried stripping them for metal without knowing what they are have died quite quickly. In fact, not just those, but there's unsecured and poorly secured dirty bomb material by the ton in the former USSR. Terrorists I think would be a little dense to focus on this gadget when there's much juicier lower hanging fruit.

Plus, it's in West Texas. Odds of a human being stumbling upon it? Have you ever driven through West Texas? :P


RE: Uses
By hughlle on 9/17/2012 10:54:25 PM , Rating: 2
Well pretty much my thoughts as well, so i am just rather curious as to why there seems to be a rquirement to get the national guard involved. Seems rather like overkill for what seems essemtially like finding a semi-harmless needle in a haystack.


RE: Uses
By OCedHrt on 9/18/2012 3:04:56 AM , Rating: 3
Because it's Texas, and big oil. Nuclear is dangerous.


RE: Uses
By MrBlastman on 9/18/2012 10:30:18 AM , Rating: 3
Yer spellin' it wrong. Out in Texas, it's nuculer. ;P


RE: Uses
By NellyFromMA on 9/18/2012 11:57:10 AM , Rating: 2
Um, does it actually have to result in instantaneous death to warrant the national guard? Isn't it sufficient that it presents a harm to anyone around it including animals and children?

Sorry it was dangerous enoguh for you but it sounds PLENTY dangerous to me if I shouldn't be within 20 feet of it.


RE: Uses
By BZDTemp on 9/18/2012 4:00:30 AM , Rating: 4
A dirty bomb doesn't need to kill people.

Imagine someone blows up a dirty bomb in a populated area, it would make that area a dead zone in the eyes of the public. Even the bomb was blown up in a way that nobody was directly hurt the thought of possible radioactivity could cause panic.


RE: Uses
By aguilpa1 on 9/18/2012 5:50:24 PM , Rating: 2
yes, yes, dirty bomb, blah, blah... but is it hot enough to power up my 80's era Delorean flux capacitor time machine? That's all I'm saying..., cause if it is, I'm going huntin.


RE: Uses
By trexas tremor on 9/18/2012 11:29:35 PM , Rating: 2
The 7 inch source is an approx. 7"x2", tubular, pressure sealed, double encapsulated, americium beryllium container certified for over 20,000 p.s.i. Commonly used in neutron porosity logging instruments. Most logging tools use both epithermal (intermediate) neutrons and thermal (slow) neutrons to measure porosity depending on the detector design. Neutron absorption causes gamma rays to be ejected thus giving additional means for detection. Nuclear sources are strictly regulated and commonly used in many oil well services and are handled on a daily basis but only by licensed, and trained engineers or technicians. Losing a source has happened before and the companies involved will be under the NRC microscope. All available resources will be used to find it. Past history indicates onsite workers retaining the source for acquiring reward as significantly possible. 30 years of oilfield service experience and 15 yrs corporate oilfield R&D experience says "let them do their job, they will find it" this isn't their first rodeo.


RE: Uses
By Sunrise089 on 9/18/2012 1:52:23 AM , Rating: 3
Well said. The non-technical press loves these stories because radiation is scaaaary, but it's somewhat sad DailyTech falls into the same sort of sensationalism.


RE: Uses
By FITCamaro on 9/18/2012 7:55:16 AM , Rating: 3
Do you expect anything less from Tiffany?

I have yet to see a worthwhile article from her.


RE: Uses
By lightfoot on 9/18/2012 12:11:45 PM , Rating: 2
Her articles on upcoming console games are usually top-notch.


RE: Uses
By Natch on 9/18/2012 7:45:58 AM , Rating: 2
Perhaps because a handgun is pretty much instantly perceived as being deadly/dangerous, while a 7-inch cylinder could be mistaken as something that's not so. Especially if the label had worn/washed off of it.

Not sure how this thing compares to, say, a radiography source, but I know that short term exposure to those can cause major damage to living organisms (i.e.-humans).


RE: Uses
By eagle470 on 9/18/2012 10:10:09 AM , Rating: 2
How about dropping it in a deep lake, thereby irradiating the lake? Sounds like a pretty effective way to get a lot of people, might take a few years, but it would be pretty had to find until it was too late.


RE: Uses
By Natch on 9/18/2012 3:33:21 PM , Rating: 3
This thing generates neutrons. Do you know what happens to water exposed to a neutron flux?

It warms it up. That's it. That's the concept behind pressurized water nuclear reactors. Produce a controlled neutron flux, via reaction of a radioactive substance, and it will heat the water up and make steam.

Unless you had a LOT of radioactive material, that was NOT containerized (like this thing is), that you could dump into the water, you're not going to get the effect you're envisioning.

And even then, you're not irradiating the water, you're just crapping it up with radioactive particles, that could be easily filtered out.


RE: Uses
By Meinolf on 9/18/2012 11:23:07 AM , Rating: 2
Great one more reason to increase gas prices. Because they just find sh1t for excuses to raise prices.


RE: Uses
By FaaR on 9/19/2012 6:50:20 PM , Rating: 2
Switch to a smaller engine/car. Stop whining about gas prices, they're only going to go up from here on out, considering we've hit peak oil.


RE: Uses
By NellyFromMA on 9/18/2012 11:55:32 AM , Rating: 2
When radioactive materials are 'lost' out in the open, and people cannot safely be within 20 feet without protective gear, I think the scenario speaks for itself...

You don't leave it out there. You do what you can to find it and get it back. The national guard is just fine for tha task.


RE: Uses
By Rukkian on 9/18/2012 12:15:56 PM , Rating: 2
Because this is worth a lot of money, and halliburton has plenty of officials in their pocket.


Lost?
By xtort107 on 9/18/2012 7:36:53 AM , Rating: 2
Its emmiting a fair amount of radiation, any c130 with a neutron detector should be able to locate this with relative ease if its just laying around. I hate to break it to everybody but the gov has "lost" nuclear weapon materials in the united states that pose more of a health risk that this location spike and theres nobody looking for them; so chalk this up as lost.




RE: Lost?
By xtort107 on 9/18/2012 7:42:44 AM , Rating: 2
I would like to add, how is it that Haliburtons name gets attached to certain clumsy disasters and there is no call for investigations into why?


RE: Lost?
By johnnycanadian on 9/18/2012 7:59:15 AM , Rating: 3
Because it's North America, where corporations can do no wrong. If they do,look the other way please and billions if not trillions of public dollars will be headed there way to help them feel better about their error.


RE: Lost?
By johnnycanadian on 9/18/2012 8:00:32 AM , Rating: 2
Ooof. It's early and there's no edit function. A space after the comma and "their" not "there". I know, no grammar police please.


RE: Lost?
By ppardee on 9/18/2012 12:34:24 PM , Rating: 2
The real question is "does anyone know someone - first hand - that works for Halliburton?"

The answer, obviously, is no. Halliburton isn't a real company. It is a shell organization that is used as the 'fall guy' when the real companies mess up. Everyone hates them, and that's their raison d'etre.


RE: Lost?
By freedserf on 9/18/2012 1:25:04 PM , Rating: 2
A simple check of Yahoo Finance should correct your lack of knowledge.

I started to say "will correct" but I thought it best to change it to "should correct". Your amusing.


How?
By BillyBatson on 9/17/2012 11:56:48 PM , Rating: 2
Why doesn't th article mention how it was lost? Did it fall off a truck? Did it "fall off a truck"? Is I missing from the factory? Stolen? Doesn't make sense




RE: How?
By medys on 9/18/2012 1:13:53 AM , Rating: 5
It is on Homers back, under his t-shirt...


Lost?
By Reclaimer77 on 9/17/2012 7:02:10 PM , Rating: 3
RE: Lost?
By ShaolinSoccer on 9/17/2012 9:00:48 PM , Rating: 2
Are you saying it was stolen?


By freedserf on 9/18/2012 11:38:40 AM , Rating: 3
First of all, Halliburton is not an oil company. ExxonMobil is an oil company, Saudi Aramco is an oil company, Petrobras is an oil company and Forest Oil is an oil company. Halliburton sells equipment and services to oil companies. That might be why Wall Street categorizes Halliburton as a Service Company.

Sorry for the rant, Tiffany.

All radioactive material is regulated in the US and Halliburton would be required to report the loss of the tool to the regulatory agency. Overreacting is what our government does to prove that it cares.

The 7" cylinder would contain the source. The cylinder is not radioactive but the source is. If it is a measuring instrument, as reported, the source would be quite minute since the amount of radiation needed in instrumentation is very small. I would estimate the source to be about the size of a pellet. You wouldn't be able to find this cylinder with a radiation detector unless you got within about two feet of it. That is the design principle of radioactive source instrumentation. Just enough radiation to go through the vessel, through the media in the vessel that is being measured and into the radiation detector on the other side of the vessel. In this case the vessel is probably a 6" diameter piece of frac iron that they are pumping the frac fluids through. That is just a guess and another possibility is that the source is for a logging instrument that is run down into the well. If you go to the MSNBC source article you can see how dangerous it is by the picture. Somebody took a picture of one on his desk.

The article is short on details but long on "could"s so it is not known if the cylinder is all that was lost or if it was attached to another piece of equipment. Probably a good idea to look for a huge piece of red iron laying on the side of the road somewhere between the Halliburton camp and the wellsite.




By freedserf on 9/18/2012 12:03:51 PM , Rating: 2
Edit:
Identified as a neutron source so definitely used in a logging tool. Lowered into the well to measure properties of the rock and the fluids in the rock.


huh
By Randomblame on 9/18/2012 4:34:25 AM , Rating: 2
Halliburton==defense contractor

My question is how the f**k is this thing useful to fracking? Its not going to work well for imaging and its not going to move rock so what is really going on. What is 7 in and valuable from a national security perspective? It must be a lightsaber prototype ha seriously fishy tho




RE: huh
By FITCamaro on 9/18/2012 7:57:30 AM , Rating: 2
Another said it is a location spike.


Reminds me of the Goiânia accident
By Slyne on 9/18/2012 12:18:57 PM , Rating: 2
"This is about the Internet.  Everything on the Internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue. If they can't deal with the Internet, they should shut it off." -- RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis











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