A small radioactive capsule that Australian authorities have been searching for since mid-January was found after it went missing while being transported by truck from a mine owned by the Rio Tinto group, authorities said on Wednesday. This is good news,” Steve Dawson, Western Australia’s Minister for Emergency Services, told reporters. Finding the capsule is like finding a needle in a haystack… I think Western Australians will sleep well tonight.”
British-Australian mining group Rio Tinto apologized on Monday for the loss of the small capsule as authorities drove hundreds of highway miles looking for it.
Darren Clem, a state emergency worker, said the capsule was finally found on the side of the road south of Newman, not far from the mine from which it was taken.
After six days of searching, one of the vehicles tasked with the search operation detected radiation while driving along the highway.
Klim indicated that authorities are currently working on extracting the capsule as part of security measures before moving it to its intended location.
The authorities explained that the silver capsule, which is no larger than 8 centimeters and is used in mining, contains the radioactive substance caesium-137, which has the ability to produce sharp radiation.
The capsule was lost while being transported by truck from a mine located near the remote area of Newman to the outskirts of Perth (southwest). The two regions are separated by 1400 km.
