Dodging a Radioactive Mexican Bullet

America dodged a bullet yesterday. A truck carrying a cargo of highly radioactive hospital waste was stolen in Mexico earlier this week. For a time, the whereabouts of both the vehicle and its potentially lethal cargo were unknown.

In the wrong hands, the cobalt used in radiation therapy could have posed a significant danger. Used in a dirty bomb, it could kill or contaminate. Just their brief exposure to the unshielded material will likely shortly cause the thieves’ death.

Fortunately, the hijacked material was recovered yesterday. But it is instructive to contemplate what might have happened had it been smuggled into the United States – especially at a moment when we are being told our immigration laws must be further weakened and our open border with Mexico left insecure.