Published:
Feb 1, 2023 09:52 GMT
The capsule, six millimeters in diameter and eight millimeters high, fell from a truck while being transported from a mine to the city of Perth.
A team from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization and fire and emergency services managed to find the missing radioactive capsule on Wednesday with cesium 137 in the state of Western Australia.
State Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson has announced at a press conference that the tiny object, six millimeters in diameter and eight in height, was finally located this morning about 50 kilometers south of town Newman’s.
The radioactive capsule was part of a sensor to measure the density of iron ore that spoiled during its transportation from a Rio Tinto company mine near Newman until Perth, the capital of Western Australia, sometime between January 11 and 16. It is believed that she fell from a truck on the way.
The loss was reported only on the 25th, and the search was hampered by the long distance covered by the truck during that journey, of about 1,400 kilometers.
In addition, the authorities feared that the capsule could have gotten stuck in the tire of a vehicle that passed by on the same road and could already be hundreds of kilometers from the search area.
“Search teams they have literally found the needle in the haystackDawson said, calling the finding “an extraordinary result.”
