Firefighters’ spokesman Vojtěch Rotschedl informed about the intervention on Saturday afternoon in Nad Studánkou Street in Prague’s Nuslí.
“These are several glass bottles with an unknown substance in the estate. Mercury was seized from the chemicals and radioactive thorium was found,” a spokesperson told Novinka, adding that a laboratory from central Bohemia was heading to the site and the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB) had been informed.
Police spokesman Jan Rybanský said that a pyrotechnician also inspected the find. According to the firefighters, the reason was picric acid, which was used as an explosive in the past.
The maneuvers in Nuslí ended shortly before 4:00 p.m., when the last firefighting units left.
“Our chemists took the dangerous substances away for disposal, and the column from the pyrotechnics took the explosive substances away for controlled detonation,” informed Rotschedl.
The intervention went without evacuation. According to Rybanský, the suspicious find was safe. Only the inner block of the house was closed, according to the firemen, people did not notice any other restrictions.
Photo: HZS Prague
A dangerous find from a cellar in Prague’s Nuslí
Criminal investigators took over the case to find out how the bottles got into the cellar. The circumstances are then examined in relation to the section of the Criminal Code, which determines up to a five-year prison sentence for the illegal production and possession of radioactive substances and highly dangerous substances.
Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic element that is being considered for use in nuclear energy. In the future, after modification ensuring spontaneous fission, it could serve as fuel.
In nature, thorium, named after the Norse god of storm Thor, occurs three times more often than uranium.
Photo: Aktu.cz
Radioactive discovery in a cellar in Prague
