A little radioactive capsule, potentially deadly, has been found in Australia, Western Australia state authorities said today. The search for the capsule began in mid-January when it was lost while being transported by truck from a mine.
“That is a good thing. As I said, a needle was found in a haystack and I believe the people of Western Australia will be able to sleep better tonight,” said Steve Dawson, chief of Australian Ambulance Services.
The radioactive capsule
Measuring just 8 by 6 millimeters, it contains enough cesium-137 to render a human very ill or even killed: It’s the small radioactive capsule that was lost from a truck traveling on a remote road in Western Australia . An accident that happened a few weeks ago and for which the mining giant Rio Tinto, who outsourced the transport to a certified external company, apologized. The vehicle drove off a mine near the town of Newman, 1,400 km north of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia.
“We are aware that this is a cause for concern and we apologize for the concern it has caused in the Western Australian community. We have launched our own investigation into how the pod was lost,” wrote the director of Rio Tinto for Iron Mines Simon Trott. The capsule is part of a mechanism used in mining to measure the density of iron ore. According to authorities, people must stay at least 5 meters from the capsule, which emits beta and gamma rays at levels equivalent to that of a person undergoing 10 x-rays an hour. State health chief Andrew Robertson said authorities were not notified until Friday.
The container it was in fell due to the vehicle’s vibrations, he added. The capsule would have fallen through the hole left by a bolt, also lost. The meter was originally picked up from the Gudai-Darri iron ore mine near Newman on January 12 and delivered to the Malaga suburb of Perth on January 16, Rio Tinto said. But the package was not opened until January 25, when the tool “broken” and the radioactive capsule was missing. The state police were informed the same day. Technicians use Geiger counters to search for the capsule along the road where it is said to have fallen.
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