NYT WORLD: Australians Scour Desert for Dangerous Radioactive Capsule Smaller Than a Penny
By Yan Zhuang
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: January 28, 2023 at 02:00AM
But they have a problem: The capsule is smaller than a penny, while the search zone is a stretch of vast desert highway about as long as California’s coastline.
The capsule, a small silver cylinder measuring 0.3 inches by 0.2 inches, came from a Rio Tinto mine and formed a part of a sensor used in mining. The sensor had been put onto a truck and driven from the mine, near Newman in the remote north of Western Australia, to Perth, the state’s capital, on a trip that took several days.
The capsule, which contains a small amount of cesium-137, is dangerously radioactive, according to the authorities. An hour of exposure at about a meter away is the equivalent of having 10 X-rays, and prolonged contact can cause skin burns, acute radiation sickness and cancer, they said.
The truck carrying the sensor arrived in Perth on Jan. 16. On Friday, nearly two weeks later, the authorities called an emergency news conference to alert the public that the capsule had disappeared somewhere along the 1,400-kilometer, or 870-mile, journey.
“We want the public to be alert to the possibility of finding the small capsule and the risks,” David Gill, a chief superintendent for the Western Australia emergency services department, said at a news conference on Friday.
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By Yan Zhuang
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: January 28, 2023 at 02:00AM
The device, part of a sensor used in mining, is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck while in transit.
The authorities in Western Australia are searching for a dangerously radioactive capsule, which they believe fell off a truck while being transported.But they have a problem: The capsule is smaller than a penny, while the search zone is a stretch of vast desert highway about as long as California’s coastline.
The capsule, a small silver cylinder measuring 0.3 inches by 0.2 inches, came from a Rio Tinto mine and formed a part of a sensor used in mining. The sensor had been put onto a truck and driven from the mine, near Newman in the remote north of Western Australia, to Perth, the state’s capital, on a trip that took several days.
The capsule, which contains a small amount of cesium-137, is dangerously radioactive, according to the authorities. An hour of exposure at about a meter away is the equivalent of having 10 X-rays, and prolonged contact can cause skin burns, acute radiation sickness and cancer, they said.
The truck carrying the sensor arrived in Perth on Jan. 16. On Friday, nearly two weeks later, the authorities called an emergency news conference to alert the public that the capsule had disappeared somewhere along the 1,400-kilometer, or 870-mile, journey.
“We want the public to be alert to the possibility of finding the small capsule and the risks,” David Gill, a chief superintendent for the Western Australia emergency services department, said at a news conference on Friday.
Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/28/world/australia/australia-radioactive-capsule.html
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