A tiny but potentially deadly radioactive capsule has been found in WA’s outback, after it sparked a frantic search and unprecedented public health warning spanning hundreds of kilometres.
Key points:
- The radioactive capsule was found just outside Newman
- Its loss sparked an unprecedented public safety warning over 1,400km
- It had been likened to ‘finding a needle in a haystack’
WA Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said it was found 74km south of Newman on the Great Northern Highway this morning.
“I do want to emphasise this is an extraordinary result,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
“The search crews have quite literally found the needle in the haystack.”
The capsule was found by a team from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.
Capsule found near side of the road
The Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner, Darren Klemm, said the capsule was found two metres from the side of the road.
He said a search vehicle was driving past at 70 kilometres per hour on the Great Northern Highway when a detection device revealed radiation.
A 20 metre “hot zone” has been set up around the capsule to ensure the public’s safety and it will be placed into a lead container.
The capsule will be stored at a secure location in Newman overnight before being transported to a WA Health Department facility tomorrow where it will be examined.
“In the extremely unlikely situation that the capsule leaked, we will remediate the area,” Commissioner Klemm said.
An urgent public warning was issued after the caesium-137 capsule was reported missing on January 25 when it apparently fell off a truck transporting it from a Rio Tinto mine to Perth.
It vanished between January 11 and January 16, but its loss was not reported for more than a week.
The capsule which measures 6mm in diameter by 8mm in height is used in mining equipment but can lead to dangerously high doses of radiation if mishandled.
Western Australians were warned of the missing capsule in an extraordinary press conference held late on Friday afternoon.
The state’s Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson warned at the time it could be anywhere between Perth and the Pilbara, an area stretching for 1,400 kilometres.
Capsule hadn’t moved after falling off truck
Dr Robertson said it was a great result the capsule had been found because although it was tiny, it “did pose a significant public health risk”.
Dr Robertson said the capsule did not appear to have moved after falling from the truck which was transporting it and it was pleasing no one had been harmed.
He said he would now be investigating all aspects of the event to make sure the capsule was appropriately managed.
“We have the ability to prosecute under the radiation safety act and we will certainly look at such prosecutions, and we’ve done that in the past,” he said.
The investigation was expected to take “a number of weeks” at least.
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, this morning joined those d
