Highly radioactive capsule that ‘fell off truck’ may never be found
Exposure could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness.
A radioactive capsule that went missing in Australia this month may never be traced.
Authorities are still searching for the capsule, which is believed to have fallen from a truck between Newman and Perth, a distance of about 870 miles.
Mining giant Rio Tinto has today apologised for the loss that has sparked a major radiation alert across parts of the vast state of Western Australia.
The silver capsule, 6mm in diameter and 8mm long, contains Caesium-137, which emits radiation equal to 10 X-rays per hour.
Exposure could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness, and people are urged to 16.5ft away from it if they spot it.
‘From what I have read, if you drive past it, the risk is equivalent to an X-ray,’ said Andrew Stuchbery who runs the department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications at the Australian National University.
‘But if you stand next to it or you handle it, it could be very dangerous.’
He stressed it is ‘not impossible’ to locate the capsule as searchers are equipped with radiation detectors.
‘That’s like if you dangled a magnet over a haystack, it’s going to give you more of a chance,’ the scientist added.
‘If the source just happened to be lying in the middle of the road you might get lucky. It’s quite radioactive so if you get close to it, it will stick out.’
The capsule was part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed, which had been entrusted to a specialist contractor to transport.
Authorities suspect vibrations from the truck caused the screws and the bolt to come loose, and the radioactive capsule from the gauge fell out of the package and then out of a gap.
Emergency services have established a hazard management team and have brought in specialised equipment that includes portable radiation survey meters to detect radiation levels across a 20-metre radius.
Simon Trott, Rio’s iron ore division chief, stressed the firm is taking this incident ‘very seriously’.
A statement said: ‘We recognise this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community.’
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