In September 1987, in Goiânia, two men recovered a radiotherapy device at an abandoned clinic. The object passes through the scrap metal circuit. However, it contains a source of cesium-137: what seems to be abandoned material retains dangerous radioactivity.
When the source is damaged, a powder disperses. Its blue glow attracts attention; fragments circulate between several people and families. The danger does not remain in the medical building. It travels with a material that its new holders do not recognize as a risk.
Relatives are getting sick. Concerned, the wife of the owner of a depot brings a sample to the health services. A medical physicist then confirms the presence of radioactivity and the alert triggers a large-scale control and decontamination operation.
Four people are dying. No power plant exploded: a lost medical source had carried contamination to the heart of everyday life.
What we know
Radiological accident, without reactor explosion; no manipulation to reproduce.
To go to the source
References accessed October 11, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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