US and Guatemalan officials have removed a cobalt-60 radioactive source from a disused cancer-treatment device in Guatemala and transported it to secure storage in the United States. The US National Nuclear Security Administration said the material could have been stolen and used in a radiological weapon, or “dirty bomb”, making its removal part of wider efforts to limit terrorist access to dangerous radioactive sources.

The operation began in May and involved specialists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Guatemala’s Ministry of Energy and Mines and its National Centre of Radioactive Wastes, with the Defence Threat Reduction Agency handling secure transport to the US. Cobalt-60 is commonly used in medical radiotherapy, but high-activity sources require strict safeguards; the NNSA described the operation as part of its international programme to remove such materials and improve their security.