Authorities in Australia say they have found a tiny radioactive capsule that went missing last week. Missing radioactive capsule found in Australia. Emergency services had “literally found the needle in the haystack”, authorities in Western Australia said.
A huge search was triggered when the object was lost while being transported along a 1,400km (870-mile) route across the state. Mining giant Rio Tinto apologized for losing the device, which could have posed a severe danger if handled.
The capsule – 6mm (0.24 inches) in diameter and 8mm long – contains a small quantity of Caesium-137, which could cause skin damage, burns, or radiation sickness. Emergency services used specialized equipment including radiation detectors during their hunt.
Announcing their find on Wednesday, the state emergency services paid tribute to “inter-agency teamwork in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds”. The device was being used at a mine in the remote Kimberley region. Rio Tinto had earlier promised to launch an investigation into what had happened.
The search area for the lost capsule was huge. It is roughly equivalent to the distance by road from John O’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall, or from Washington DC to Orlando, Florida. It was thought that the capsule may have gone missing up to two weeks ago.
The device is part of a density gauge, which is common in the mining industry. It was being used at Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri mine in the remote Kimberley region. The gauge was being transported by a subcontracted company, which picked it up from the mine site on 12 January to move it to a storage facility in the north-east suburbs of Perth.
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