[03/28/02]Several thousand dollars worth of equipment, including one device with a radioactive component, was stolen from a U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center test site at a Louisiana Army base Tuesday night, spokesmen said.

The Criminal Investigation Division at Fort Polk is conducting the investigation and would not comment.

Crews from ERDC in Vicksburg, the umbrella name for the facility founded as Waterways Experiment Station, were at the military base near Alexandria.

Storage trailers at the site were burglarized. A generator, digital camera, computer equipment, survey equipment, blast triggering machine, portable weather station and tools were reported missing, according to the ERDC public affairs office.

A portable moisture density gauge, used for soil analysis, was also taken. The gauge contains a small amount of radioactive material, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been notified.

Army officials said the radioactive material is encased and is not harmful.

Army personnel, preparing the site to conduct roadway tests, discovered the theft at the isolated site Wednesday.

An inventory is under way, and the total value of equipment missing has not been determined, according to the ERDC public affairs office.

No explosives or blasting caps are stored at the site, public affairs officials said.

Scientists at ERDC undertake research projects for Army and other entities related to hydraulics, soils, pavements, structures and several other fields of study.

Some tests are done at the facility in Vicksburg, created in 1929, but others must be done at remote sites due to specific conditions at those sites or for safety purposes.