Why on earth would you steal a truck carrying nuclear waste?

[SilentFutility]

If my fate were sealed in such a way I would likely take my own life to spare myself the suffering.

[GalacticBusDriver]

If my fate were sealed in such a way I would likely take my own life to spare myself the suffering.

Yep. Shotguns may be messy, but they're also quick!

[Shiranu]

Pfft, please... every one knows they are going to use fake bodies because these guys are going to be Mexican Hulks.

Basic science guys,  camman.

[Hopist]

He said those who exposed themselves to the pellets could not contaminate others.

Is this really true?

What about intimate contact, saliva exchange etc

Yes, this is really true. The exposure to radiation would have caused irreversible damage to their tissues and the way their bodies function, it is this damage that will kill them, they are not still being irradiated nor emitting radiation themselves, in the same way that if you are severely burnt by a fire you cannot pass on this tissue damage to someone else a day or two later, but the physical trauma of the burns can still kill you. In very simple terms, think of being exposed to high levels of radiaton like this as being similar to the physical trauma of being burnt but on a very small scale in the individual cells of your body.

As others have said, they likely wanted the truck and either did not realise it was carrying radioactive material or did not realise how dangerous it was.

Thanks for explaining that SF, Plu too.

[Hopist]

As it was explained to me in the Navy, start out with a very bad case of the flu, rapidly progressing to bleeding out of your eyeballs and then barfing up your guts. Literally. But that was Tritium. this may be different.

I have to say I agree with APA, nobody likes a thief but damn that is too gross.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

It's hard for me to feel any sympathy towards them, but if I were the doctor for them I'd probably give them a fatal dose of something so they don't have to die horrible.

[Shiranu]

I don't see what is to be unsympathetic about... they had the bad luck of being born into a poor country rife with crime and not much chance for upward growth if you are born in the wrong state and worse luck in trying to make some cash and exposing themselves to radioactive materials.

That is pretty shit luck, I feel bad for them.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

I don't see what is to be unsympathetic about... they had the bad luck of being born into a poor country rife with crime and not much chance for upward growth if you are born in the wrong state and worse luck in trying to make some cash and exposing themselves to radioactive materials.

That is pretty shit luck, I feel bad for them.

Yeah, but hopefully there would've have been one of these:

On the cargo with warnings that it's radioactive and getting near it will kill you in the most horrible way imaginable.

[Shiranu]

I don't see what is to be unsympathetic about... they had the bad luck of being born into a poor country rife with crime and not much chance for upward growth if you are born in the wrong state and worse luck in trying to make some cash and exposing themselves to radioactive materials.

That is pretty shit luck, I feel bad for them.

Yeah, but hopefully there would've have been one of these:
[ Image ]
On the cargo with warnings that it's radioactive and getting near it will kill you in the most horrible way imaginable.

It's Mexico and the driver wasn't following protocol... so I wouldn't assume that :P.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

I don't see what is to be unsympathetic about... they had the bad luck of being born into a poor country rife with crime and not much chance for upward growth if you are born in the wrong state and worse luck in trying to make some cash and exposing themselves to radioactive materials.

That is pretty shit luck, I feel bad for them.

Yeah, but hopefully there would've have been one of these:
[ Image ]
On the cargo with warnings that it's radioactive and getting near it will kill you in the most horrible way imaginable.

It's Mexico and the driver wasn't following protocol... so I wouldn't assume that :P.

Yeah, true. I guess the lesson here is don't open mysterious canisters unless you're willing to deal with a fate that would make Cthulu shudder.

[Johan]

It's Mexico and the driver wasn't following protocol... so I wouldn't assume that :P.

Exactly. I also wouldn't assume the thieves had enough education to even begin to understand what that symbol means.

Maybe I'm alone on this or maybe its just because commercial trucking and the safety/regs of commercial trucking is my gig, but when I read the article, the question of why anyone would steal a truckload of nuclear waste isn't what came to mind. What came to mind for me is why any remotely civilized nation would allow themselves to get to the point where an average of six trucks of nuclear waste get stolen every year and they do nothing to fix the problem. Imposing better regs, oversight and fines on the companies hauling the material so as to make it impossible to transport nuclear material without armed escorts, planned routes and planned stops at only secure locations would make this issue completely go away tomorrow. Even in Mexico, this problem is so easily fixable that its an insult that they don't fix it.

[josephpalazzo]

It's Mexico and the driver wasn't following protocol... so I wouldn't assume that :P.

Exactly. I also wouldn't assume the thieves had enough education to even begin to understand what that symbol means.

Maybe I'm alone on this or maybe its just because commercial trucking and the safety/regs of commercial trucking is my gig, but when I read the article, the question of why anyone would steal a truckload of nuclear waste isn't what came to mind. What came to mind for me is why any remotely civilized nation would allow themselves to get to the point where an average of six trucks of nuclear waste get stolen every year and they do nothing to fix the problem. Imposing better regs, oversight and fines on the companies hauling the material so as to make it impossible to transport nuclear material without armed escorts, planned routes and planned stops at only secure locations would make this issue completely go away tomorrow. Even in Mexico, this problem is so easily fixable that its an insult that they don't fix it.

Are you kidding? On what planet do you live? What you're suggesting is MORE government regulation, MORE government interfering in our lives, MORE government spending, which leads to BIGGER government. If I were you I would do like EVE -- delete that post before the GOP, the Tea-Baggers and the rightwing nutjobs find you out.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

I would hope that even right wingers would see the need for regulation of nuclear waste. I know some of them are all "free market" when it comes to regulating the management and upkeep of nuclear power plants, which in turn turns a lot of people off of nuclear power, but I would hope they could at least agree that nuclear waste needs to be heavily regulated.

[vsenetak]

I feel sorry for them.