A radioactive capsule that fell from a truck onto a highway in the Australian desert has finally been found, officials said on Wednesday.
The silver cylinder measures just 8mm by 6mm, and is smaller than a coin. But it does contain enough Cesium-137 to emit radiation equivalent to ten X-rays an hour—and cause acute illness as a result.
The government had asked people who happened to see the capsule to stay five meters from it, because exposure to radiation could cause burns or nausea.
“We found a needle in a haystack,” said Stephen Dawson, minister of emergency services for Western Australia, where the capsule was lost. “I think Australians can sleep better tonight.”
The search for the cylinder lasted six days and covered hundreds of kilometers of highway, ending when a special vehicle detected radiation on the side of a deserted road south of Newman.
The object had disappeared two weeks ago, when the truck that was transporting it left a mine located 1,400 kilometers north of the state capital and headed for the Perth region – the distance traveled by the vehicle until then was greater than between the cities of Paris and Madrid.
Darren Klemm, commissioner of the state’s Emergency Services, said authorities were now working to get the capsule to safety.
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