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Missing radioactive capsule found in Australian outback after huge search

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A radioactive capsule that fell off a truck in the Australian outback – sparking a radiation alert and a search of hundreds of miles of road – has been found.

Western Australia’s emergency services minister said the silver capsule, which emits the isotope Caesium-137, had been located about two metres from the roadside.

Authorities were hunting for the 6mm by 8mm capsule and retracing the truck’s 870-mile (1,400km) route with radiation-scanning gear.

The military was checking the capsule and it was due to be taken to a secure facility in Perth.

Minister Stephen Dawson called it an “extraordinary result”.

How was the capsule found?

It took several government agencies six days to find the missing capsule.

The search involved Western Australia’s emergency response department, police, fire and rescue service, along with Australia’s Department of Defence, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, and the Australian Nuclear and Science Technology Organisation.

They retraced the capsule’s 870-mile journey along the Great Northern Highway and other roads in both directions using vehicles fitted with specialist radiation equipment capable of flagging up the isotope Caesium-137 inside.

The vehicles travelled at “slow speeds” and eventually detected the capsule as it drove past it at 43mph.

Niall Monaghan, senior physicist at Radiation Consultancy Services Ltd, tells Sky News it would have been easy to detect with a moving vehicle.

“It’s pretty radioactive, so you would see it pretty easily with a basic detector – even travelling at 40mph.

“Caesium-137 gives off Gamma rays, which penetrate more than X-rays.

“So at that intensity, the capsule would be easily picked up by a detector like a Geiger counter – the ones you see in films that crackle when they find something.

“If you were going really fast you might miss it, but it’s the same as if it was dark and you were looking for something that glows – you would still see it.”

Authorities previously said it would take five days to retrace the route, with minister Stephen Dawson describing the end result as “quite literally finding the needle in the haystack”.

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“When you consider the scope of the research area, locating this object was a monumental challenge, the search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack,” he said.

The capsule was found when a vehicle with scanning equipment picked up radiation as it drove past at about 43mph (70kmh).

People had been warned of potential radiation burns, sickness, and damage to their immune and gastrointestinal systems if they came closer than five metres to the capsule.

Driving past was described as much lower risk however, similar to having an X-ray.

It was discovered far from any community and it is unlikely anyone would have been exposed to its radiation, said Western Australia‘s chief health officer Andrew Robertson.

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The hunt for the capsule was described as a needle-in-a-haystack scenario
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The search area covered hundreds of miles of highway

The capsule is owned by mining firm Rio Tinto and is part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore.

Vibrations during transportation are believed to have caused screws and a bolt to come loose from the gauge, allowing it to fall out.

The search area was vast as the truck covered a distance longer than Britain on its journey from the Gudai-Darri mine, in the remote Kimberley region, to the Perth suburbs.

Police, the defence department and Australia’s nuclear agency were all involved after the capsule was reported missing on 25 January.

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An investigation will look at the handling of the gauge and capsule at the mine

They had been scouring the state’s Great Northern Highway as well as other sections of the route used by the road train – a truck pulling multiple trailers.

Some 410 miles (660km) had been searched by Tuesday.

Rio Tinto, which gave the capsule to another company to transport, apologised for the “very concerning” incident and said it had launched its own investigation.

Authorities are doing their own probe but under 1975 state laws the fine for mishandling radioactive substances is currently only A$1,000 – and A$50 per day the offence continues.

“That figure is ridiculously low,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“But I suspect that it’s ridiculously low because people didn’t think such an item could be lost.”

Police have looked at bringing potential criminal charges but have concluded there is no case to answer.

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