A mild radioactive source material weighing a few grams being used in the oil and natural gas exploration has gone missing from the ONGC’s Rajamahendravaram base camp.
This was detected during an internal audit on Thursday, and the same was reported to the Bommuru police on Friday.
The ONGC had purchased the material of the size of a small coin for ₹27 lakh in 2013, and had since been using it as per the guidelines issued by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
Reports denied
In a statement here, the ONGC denied reports being telecast in a few television channels that the material was highly explosive and valued at about ₹100 crore.
“The missing material is used in the oil and gas exploration and it is not an explosive,” the statement said.
