Ctg Port halts unloading after radiation found in scrap container from Brazil

The container has been set aside for testing by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission to determine whether it is dangerous

Chittagong Port authorities have detected a radioactive element in a container of scrap iron shipped from Brazil.

The “Megaport Initiative Radiation Detection System” installed at the port detected the presence of the material in the container.

Chattogram Customs temporarily halted the unloading of the container after the alert sounded. A decision on what will be done with the container will be taken after it has been examined by officials from the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC).

The “Megaport Initiative Radiation Detection System” was installed with funds from an American organisation and is used to scan for radioactivity in containers coming from abroad.

An alarm regarding the presence of radioactive material sounded during the container’s inspection, said Mohammad Marufur Rahman, joint commissioner of Chattogram Customs.

He delivery of the container was halted after that and it was placed at a separate location, he said.

A letter has been sent to the BAEC and a check has been requested to determine the radioactivity level, he said.

Chittagong Port Secretary Md Omar Faruk said the container had been detained for the time being, reiterating that it had set off the radiation alarm and would be tested by a BAEC team.

Chattogram Customs officials said that a Al Aqsa Steel Limited, an iron-making company based in Dhaka’s Demra, imported five containers of scrap iron from Brazil.

The containers were loaded onto a ship headed for Chattogram, at the Manaus port in Brazil. The containers stopped at ports in Panama, the Netherlands, and Sri Lanka before arriving in Chittagong Port on Aug 3.

It had arrived on the MV Mount Cameron at Chattogram.