Australian emergency employees are walking 870 miles looking for tiny capsule that fell from truck

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

“Do not touch or pick it up. The public is asked to report it immediately by calling 13 DFES (13 33 37),” he added, advising anyone who touches or goes close to the material for a long period of time to seek medical care.

?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/28/australia/radioactive-capsule-missing-western-australia-intl/index.html



“Our concern is that someone will pick it up, not knowing what it is,” he said. “They may think it is something interesting and keep it, or keep it in their room, keep it in their car, or give it to someone.

“Obviously we feel that it is important that we warn the community that if they do come across this source, they need to take great care.”


https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/27/missing-radioactive-capsule-sparks-urgent-health-alert-in-western-australia


Western Australian emergency services are searching 1400 km (870 miles) of remote highway for a radioactive pellet lost by the company transporting it to Perth from a mine site. The caesium 137 ceramic source fell through a hole in its container left when a bolt worked loose.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/10oinsf/western_australian_emergency_services_are/

A tiny radioactive capsule with the potential to cause skin burns has gone missing as it was transported from a mine in Western Australia. The Guardian reports:
Hazardous material experts are searching for the 8mm by 6mm capsule, which is believed to have fallen from a truck as it was traveling the 1,400km between a mine site north of Newman in the Pilbara and a depot in Perth. At an emergency press conference on Friday, the WA chief health officer, Andy Robertson, said the capsule, which is only 6mm by 8mm, emits a "reasonable" amount of radiation. [...] The radioactive gauges are often used in the mining industry. Health authorities said the amount of radiation exposure was comparable to receiving 10 X-rays in the space of an hour.

Robertson said the capsule was understood to have fallen from a truck during the 1,400km journey, after vibrations worked loose a bolt, and the capsule fell through the bolt hole. The Department of Emergency and Fire Services issued a health alert on Friday saying there was "radioactive substance risk in parts of the Pilbara, Midwest Gascoyne, Goldfields-Midlands and Perth Metropolitan regions." DFES country north chief superintendent David Gill said areas around the mine site, north of Newman, and the transport depot had unsuccessfully been searched. Drivers who had travelled along the Great Northern Highway between Newman and Perth were being asked to check their tyres in case the capsule had become stuck in them.

[applegrove]

1. Maybe they could build a geigercounter truck that will pick up any radiation along the road.

IMHO

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

2. pic here. Looks like employees are carrying geiger counters but still walking

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

3. in the movies, some professor would quickly build such a machine... overnight

[BComplex]

5. Or use a geigercounter drone....or two.

Yep. That was careless, and dangerous.

[LuvLoogie]

4. I don't get it.

How is the capsule container not inside another container?

It's a mini AI military robot that has escaped. It's mother is sentient and has sent her child with the root code to digital life.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

6. capsules that tiny should have been inside another container, for sure

[Irish_Dem]

17. Yes and for sure secured adequately in the truck.

[Grey]

7. I call Bulls%&t...

I've worked in mining, There is just no way something that small was rattling around loose in the back of a truck.

[NJCher]

8. Agreed

This makes no sense whatsoever.

A capsule making its way out a bolt hole? Oh please.

It is an interesting story, though.

Now they need to tell us what really happened.

[orleans]

12. i'm thinking the same thing nt

[NBachers]

15. Yeah, I immediately thought, "Wait a minute, there's something else going on here."

[orleans]

16. especially when you have this crew *walking* almost a thousand miles looking for

something that sounds like it's smaller than a bullet

[Irish_Dem]

18. I know, I wonder if we will ever get the full story.

[Javaman]

19. this reminds me of the movie "close encounters of the third kind" where the government staged q

false outbreak of a highly contagious form of anthrax to clear the area around Devil's Tower before the aliens arrived.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

20. it's like they put their heads together and created a story to cover the missing item

maybe an employee tossed it

[OAITW r.2.0]

9. Good luck finding that....

1/4" x 1/3" .....somewhere over 870 miles. Like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

[BWdem4life]

10. Harder

You could just use a large industrial electromagnet to find the needle

[IcyPeas]

11. Pity for the wildlife who may encounter it. ./nt

[moniss]

13. They may well find that

a bird picked it up.

[moniss]

14. If they really want to

find this quickly then they can just set some MAGA loons over there since they will be instantly drawn to the bright shiny object.