this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2025
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xkcd #3131: Cesium

Title text:

Someday I hope to find a way to mess up a recipe so badly that it draws the attention of the International Air Transport Association, the International Mathematical Olympiad, or the NSA.

Transcript:

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Source: https://xkcd.com/3131/

explainxkcd for #3131

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[–] peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 40 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Holy shit it was cesium-137?

It can be found in natural U-238, but otherwise it's produced in nuclear fission. Stupid radioactive, and has a halflife in your body of like 70 days.

People who consumed this will be at a higher risk of cancer.

How the fuck did shrimp get contaminated with Cesium-137? Did they have like an X-ray machine radiation source blow up over a batch?

[–] fahfahfahfah@lemmy.billiam.net 37 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

Apparently the shipping containers themselves were contaminated. The shrimp itself wasn’t detected to be radioactive but they’re recalling it anyways out of caution.

[–] peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 16 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

That makes sense, but it's weird that the shipping containers were contaminated unless they were shipping nuclear waste or unsafe radiological sources...

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 30 minutes ago

Smuggling and clandestine military operations with zero regard for public safety are more common than you’d think, because when things go wrong nobody gets punished.

[–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

I'm sure they hosed it out before piping in the shrimp.

[–] Bubs@lemmy.zip 17 points 7 hours ago

Best guess I heard was broken medical equipment leaked cesium