They Found The Tiny Thing That’s Been All Over The News This Week!
Hot off the press: the tiny capsule that stopped the nation has, amazingly, been found.
Only 6mm by 8mm, the radioactive caesium-137 capsule was lost during transportation, falling off a truck between the Rio Tinto Gudai-Darri mine site and a Malaga depot – a 1400km journey.
Miraculously, the capsule was found just outside of Newman early this morning by a team from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.
“Finding this minute object – measuring 8mm by 6mm – in the vast outback within seven days is an incredible achievement,” said Premier Mark McGowan.
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“To all agencies and crews who quickly mobilised for this enormous search operation – thank you and well done.”
Found just two metres from the side of the road, the capsule was detected by a radiation detection device travelling at 70km/hour along the Great Northern Highway.
The capsule, commonly used in the mining industry in processing plants, was first reported missing to authorities on January 25, however it was lost between January 11 and 16.
An urgent public health warning was issued on Friday, due to the high risk of severe radiation poisoning if handled – luckily, it seems as if the capsule has been undisturbed since falling off the truck, and a 20m zone has been established around the capsule to ensure the public’s safety.
Image credit: Shutterstock / Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA