Australia worries: Tiny radioactive capsule has been missing for days

Australian authorities said on Wednesday they found a tiny radioactive capsule lost by mining company Rio Tinto in an extensive and complex search for this potentially lethal material.

“I want to emphasize that this is an extraordinary result (…) The search teams have literally found a needle in a haystack,” the head of emergency services for the state of Western Australia said at a press conference. Stephen Dawson.

The representative of the regional government specified that the device with a diameter of 6 millimeters and a height of 8 millimeters was discovered this morning, about 50 kilometers south of the city. Newbiewhere he was picked up by a truck a few days ago to be transported to the city of Perth, a route of about 1400 kilometers – a distance longer than the length of the UK.

A small capsule was found between stones in a ditch about two meters from the Great Northern Highway, where there was a car equipped with special devices for detecting radiation – who was driving along the road at a speed of about 70 kilometers per hour – detected the radiation emitted by the capsule.

The teams set up a 20-meter security perimeter around the object to “safely” begin retrieving it, and placed it in a lead container to shield it from radiation.

The capsule was sent back to Newbiewhere it will be stored until Thursday, when it will be moved to the center of Perth, the capital of Western Australia.

Polluted area?

Members of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) are investigating the site where the capsule was found to “make sure it is not contaminated” due to the risk of a leak. radiation.

The tiny capsule contains a “small amount” of radioactive material. cesium-137which was used in the mining industry and was lost during transport between January 10 and 16, as the Western Australian Department of Health previously explained.

Authorities warned in a previous warning about the risks of exposure to this toxic substance, which include “radiation burns or radiation sickness.” cancer.

Although today it was assured that it was “unlikely” that anyone was exposed because it was far enough away from the road and from any population.

“It looks like it was not moved, but rather fell out of a truck,” Andrew Robertson, director general of the Western Australian Health Authority, told the media.

The poisonous material was packaged on January 10th and the car arrived in Perth six days later, but it wasn’t until the 25th that cargo inspectors discovered that one of the packages had been torn and one of those tiny letter capsules had been lost en route.

The radioactive device is part of a density meter used at Rio Tinto’s Gooday Darry mine in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Radiation Council of Western Australia He launched an investigation to determine how the radioactive capsule could have been lost, although he did not specify when he would release his final report. (EFE)