A potentially dangerous radioactive capsule has been found in Australia, where it has been wanted since mid-January, after it was lost while being transported by truck from a Rio Tinto group mine, authorities said on Wednesday.
“That’s a good thing. Like I said, it was definitely a needle in a haystack that was found and I think the people of Western Australia will be able to get a better night’s sleep tonight,” Steve Dawson, Health Minister, told reporters at the Australian state rescue service.
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto apologized for the loss on Monday.
Authorities drove hundreds of freeway miles in search of the tiny capsule.
She was eventually discovered on the side of a deserted road south of the town of Newman, near the mine from which she had been transported, State Emergency Services official Darren Klemm said.
After six days of research, one of the mobilized vehicles detected radiation while driving on the freeway.
Authorities are now working to safely retrieve the capsule before they are moved to a safe location, Klemm said.
The silver-colored capsule, which measures 8mm by 6mm and is used in mining according to authorities, contains a radioactive substance, cesium-137, which can cause acute irradiation.
It had been lost while being transported by truck some 900 miles (1,400 km) between a mine near the remote town of Newman and the northern suburbs of Perth (south-west).