Authorities Paging Owner Of 55-Gallon Drum Of Uranium Parked At Florida Airport

Were you recently rolling down the street with your 55-gallon drum of uranium, only to somehow misplace it? It could be at the Opa-locka Executive Airport near Miami, where police found just such a thing on Thursday. A hazmat team showed up to get it where it was hanging out near a dismantled plane.

After an anonymous tip led them to the drum, local authorities shut down the airport, reports the Miami Herald. Radiation meters seemed to indicate that the uranium could be leaking. Mixed into it were pieces from the broken down plane nearby.

A few hours later, the hazmat crew from Miami International Airport turned things over to the Environmental Protection Agency. The risk is only “minimal to no hazard,” said the fire rescue team.

“The aircraft parts posed little to no threat, but we contacted the EPA just because there was radiation involved,” said a spokesman for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

It’s apparently in older model planes like the one found to have uranium-238, as it helps to balance the plane during flight and assists in navigation.

No serious threat after uranium found at Opa-locka airport [Miami Herald]

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