'Needle in the haystack': Missing radioactive capsule found on the side of the road in Australia
Officials in Australia announced Wednesday they successfully recovered a pea-sized radioactive capsule that was reported lost last week after it fell off a transport truck.
“We have essentially found the needle in the haystack,” Darren Klemm, a local fire commissioner, said in a news release.
The search for the missing radioactive capsule
After six days, emergency crews using specialized radiation equipment located the capsule near Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, just south of the Gudai-Darri iron ore mine, where the truck had picked it up. It was bound for Perth, the state's capital.
Officials meticulously searched an 870-mile stretch of road on the Great Northern Highway between the mine and Perth.
Caesium 137 capsule used in gauge
The missing object contained the caesium 137 ceramic source and, according to RioTinto, the operator of the Gudai-Darri mine, formed part of a gauge used to measure iron ore feed.
The capsule was 8 by 6 millimeters (.314 x .236 inches), officials said. It became dislodged from the gauge, which RioTinto said had been packed by a specialist radioactive materials handler, before falling off the back of the truck.
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Investigation underway
“This sort of incident is extremely rare in our industry, which is why we need to investigate it thoroughly and learn what we can to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” RioTinto said in a news release. “We will be assessing whether our processes and protocols, including the use of specialist contractors to package and transport radioactive materials, are appropriate.”
Dr. Andrew Robertson, Western Australia’s chief health official, said a government investigation was underway as to how the object became lost. Robertson said he would deliver a report in the coming weeks, adding that prosecution over the object’s mishandling is possible under the country’s radiation-safety laws.
“If it [the gauge] is appropriately prepared under the regulations,” Robertson said at a news conference. “Then it should be more than adequate to prevent this from happening.”
Safety risk to the public avoided
Robertson said in a news release that the contamination risk the stray capsule posed was “extremely remote” because of the length of time required for radiation exposure.
“If you were one metre (3.2 feet) away from the source for one hour, that would be the equivalent of receiving the radiation dose of 10 X-rays,” Robertson said.
Officials said they didn’t believe the capsule had moved from where it was found on the side of a remote stretch of road.
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Contributing: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tiny, missing radioactive capsule found roadside in Australia
