No trace – Radioactive capsule not yet found in Western Australia

In Western Australia, the search for a tiny radioactive capsule is in full swing. With radiation and metal detectors, specialists were also on Monday combing a 1400-kilometer stretch around the Great Northern Highway for the dangerous container. The case, which was only a millimeter in size, apparently fell off a truck while being transported from a mine north of the mining town of Newman to a depot near the metropolis of Perth. A spokeswoman for radiation protection spoke on Monday on the 9News station of an "event of the century".

British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, which operates the Gudai Darri mine, apologized for the incident. "We take this incident very seriously," Australian broadcaster ABC quoted Simon Trott, head of Rio Tinto's iron ore division. "We recognize that this is clearly a matter of great concern and we apologize for the alarm it has caused among the people of Western Australia." The radioactive capsules are used in mining in radiation detectors.

Rio Tinto hired a third party with the expertise and certification to securely package the dangerous capsule in preparation for shipment. The company also launched its own investigation to find out how she could have disappeared.

According to the latest information, the capsule containing highly radioactive cesium-137 was lost sometime after January 12. That she was missing was noticed only on January 25, when the truck was unloaded. The Western Australia Department of Health informed the public about the incident late on Friday (local time).

"We've never seen anything like this," said the region's health officer, Andrew Robertson. The containers for such material are actually designed in such a way that they are robust enough to secure the dangerous cargo. Authorities believe vibrations caused a bolt to work loose and the mini-casing to fall through the bolt hole. How she got out of the truck from there is not yet clear.

People have been asked to keep a distance of at least five meters if they spot the silver case, which is smaller than a ten cent coin. The radiation can lead to skin burns and prolonged exposure to cancer, it said. "The worst-case scenario is someone picks up the capsule, finds it strange and puts it in their pocket," AAP quoted biophysicist Ivan Kempson of the University of South Australia as saying.

Australian media kept reporting on the bizarre incident. The population was asked to go to the hospital if they came into contact with the capsule. If people searched for the capsule themselves with a smartphone app and found unusual radiation, they should inform the emergency services immediately, it said.

But even with detectors, it won't be easy to find them, believes Dale Bailey, a professor of medical imaging at the University of Sydney. The search becomes even more difficult from moving cars: “The relatively low amount of radiation from the source means that the area has to be scanned relatively slowly – and not at 100 kilometers per hour.” According to experts, the capsule will be radioactive for around 300 years.