Chula Vista : ‘Hot’ Safe Found by Border Agents

A safe containing uranium and plutonium that was stolen earlier this month has been found by Border Patrol agents alongside Otay Lakes Road in Chula Vista.

San Diego police Detective Jack Tussey said Monday that the agents found the safe Saturday. It had been pried open and its contents were spilled on the ground. Sheriff’s deputies and the county Hazardous Materials Team were quickly called to the scene.

“All of the items that were in the safe at the time it was stolen were all still in the area,” Tussey said, adding that the contents of the safe had such a low level of radiation that they never posed a threat to the public health.

The 160-pound safe was stolen April 10 from the RADeCO division of Science Applications International in Sorrento Valley. It contained radioactive discs used to calibrate radiation-monitoring equipment. The discs contain trace amounts of such dangerous isotopes as plutonium-239, strontium-90 and cesium-137.

“All of the samples were fully intact and undamaged,” said Dennis Heipt, senior vice president for administration at Science Applications International. “We recovered everything that was of concern to the public.”

Company officials said the radioactive discs would be harmful only if they were held in close contact for long periods of time.

The safe had been dumped on a deserted stretch of Otay Lakes Road about two miles west of Otay Lake. Radioactivity found in the area around the safe was considered normal, Tussey said.

Besides the safe, more than $15,000 worth of office equipment and furniture was stolen from the company.