A drum of uranium was found near a dismantled plane at a Miami area airport on Thursday, according to Reuters. This discovery led to a temporary evacuation.
Workers were also removed from the area, but officials said there were no injuries and employees were able to return to work.
The 55-gallon unsealed drum, which contained depleted uranium, prompted an evacuation, though according to officials, it posed no environmental risk. It was found in an area usually reserved for dismantling planes. The drum was marked "depleted uranium" and indicated that U-238 was in the container. The source of the uranium remains unclear.
The uranium was discovered on old aircraft parts that had been broken up and put into a container at the Opa-locka Executive Airport, according to Mara Burger, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Officials cleared a 150-foot perimeter around the drum as a precaution, though the circle was later reduced to five feet after it was determined not to be a risk.
"Someone disposed of the plane inappropriately," Burger told Reuters.
The parts had uranium 238, which is a material that was once used on airplanes for navigation purposes, according to Burger.
There were no injuries as a result of the uranium, and a hazmat team was dispatched to the airport, though they found minimal levels of radiation, said Lieutenant Arnold Piedrahita, a spokesman for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
No flights were delayed and the airport never closed, according to Marc Henderson, an airport spokesman.
Opa-locka airport handles some secondary traffic from Miami-Dade airport and offers aircraft maintenance and repair services.
Depleted uranium is usually the byproduct of the production of enriched uranium, which is the type commonly associated with the production of nuclear weapons and reactors. It has significantly less radiation than natural uranium.
"There was a spill or leak in that work area," a Miami television station reported.
Video footage of the airport uranium incident.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
