When you don’t respect Cobalt 60 it kills you

In a stretch of gruesomely preventable disasters in the late 80s and early 90s, Cobalt 60, a highly radioactive isotope used in industrial radiography, cancer treatment, and sterilization of medical equipment, did none of those things and instead irradiated people, sickening some in under a minute.

Cobalt‑60 has been making cameos in death and disfigurement stories around the world. Documentation in the wrong language, malfunctioning or ignored radiation warning devices, or just using a knife to jimmy open the door to an irradiator all predictably lead to disaster. Mishandled or orphaned sources have burned holes through skin, ignited Geiger counters like Christmas trees, and sometimes glowed faintly in the dark, as if trying to warn its handlers, “Hey! I’m here to warp your DNA.”