As correctly pointed out by other readers, this is a non-issue and complete overreaction. All feeding into misconceptions and irrational fear of radiation.
The "safety professional" was out of his depth and clearly undereducated about the risks of radiation and uranium ore in particular.
Hence, the true risk of a "dirty bomb" -- is psychological, i.e. it would be a weapon of mass disruption (not destruction), triaging a "worried well" would be expensive and time consuming.
> Hence, the true risk of a "dirty bomb" -- is psychological
I imagine there are some radiation-sources which are harmless outside the body because the dead cells of your skin would easily absorb and block them, but would wreak havoc if they were ingested or inhaled as dust.
Sometimes this is presented as a question where you have three or four cookies, which emit things like alpha/beta/gamma radiation and possibly neutrons, and you have to decide which cookie to eat, which to put into your pocket, which to put in a lead box, etc.
On a purely radiation focused scale, sure. But this is a big deal, as it’s an indicator of the lack of effective management and controls surrounding it.
They're rocks that someone undoubtedly collected from the surrounding area. Radioactive rocks, emitting low levels of mostly self-shielded radiation. Not great, but not a disaster deserving of national news.
I got the impression that they might be some old dirt ore from the 1950s - back then, there were a ton of articles in magazines like Popular Science and Popular Mechanics (check 'em out on Google Books and the like) about the "new gold rush - for uranium ore".
Lots of people from all over drove out to the southwest with bucket and shovels, and tried to find this stuff in a (probably misguided) attempt to "strike it rich".
I'm sure more than a few just left their buckets of dirt sitting around Flagstaff and GCNP area - and they were found and moved around - and...
...here we are.
May or may not be true in this case - but I'm sure it has happened (and I am certain more buckets wait to be found).
Given everything people say about the 2008 crash, destroying the housing market in a few key places seems like it would have a bigger effect than outright killing a few hundred people, unless it's a made-for-television spectacle like the WTC. Dirty bombs are totally a weapon against real estate prices lol
The "safety professional" was out of his depth and clearly undereducated about the risks of radiation and uranium ore in particular.
Hence, the true risk of a "dirty bomb" -- is psychological, i.e. it would be a weapon of mass disruption (not destruction), triaging a "worried well" would be expensive and time consuming.