After days of searching, experts in Western Australia have found a radioactive capsule that had fallen off a truck. Response teams discovered the tiny and very dangerous capsule about 50 kilometers south of the mining town of Newman, broadcaster ABC reported on Wednesday, citing the region’s government.
At times it was feared she might have become stuck in the profile of a passing vehicle on the Great Northern Highway. However, according to fire department spokesman Darren Klemm, she was found two meters off the road.
A special detector on a search vehicle indicated the radiation. The capsule has been secured in a lead container and is scheduled to be stored overnight in a secure location in Newman. On Thursday, she will be transported to a facility run by the Ministry of Health, where she will be examined for any damage.
Reuters just quoted Australia’s Energy Minister Stephen Dawson as saying: “When you consider the scope of the research area, locating this object was a monumental challenge. The search parties literally found a needle in a haystack”. However, he believes that the West Australians can now “sleep better” again.
The mini-casing fell out of its container while being transported from a mine north of Newman to a depot near the city of Perth. Since then, specialists have been using detectors to search the 1,400-kilometer route. The media had written that the undertaking was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
“We need to look at how these capsules are transported,” said Emergency Services Secretary Stephen Dawson. “It’s a mystery to me how something like that could fall off the back of a truck.” The British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto had already apologized for the incident. The corporation operates the Gudai Darri mine, from where the capsule was transported.
It is believed that vibrations caused a bolt in the container to loosen during travel and the mini-case fell through the bolt hole. The loss of the capsule containing the highly radioactive cesium-137, which was just six by eight millimeters in size, had caused great concern in Western Australia given the very dangerous material. Anyone who discovers something that looks like a tiny capsule should keep a distance of at least five meters, they said.
