A radioactive that went missing in Australia in early January was uncovered Wednesday after an extensive search.
The tiny 6mm capsule contains Caesium-137, which causes skin damage, burns, and radiation sickness, was lost while being transported through Western Australia by a subcontracting company for mining giant Rio Tinto according to the BBC. On Tuesday, Australia’s nuclear safety agency joined the week-long hunt for the item, and identified the item on Wednesday, Reuters noted.
The capsule was found just 7 feet from the side of a road, and was located via specialist equipment that detects radiation, the BBC continued. A serial number on the item confirmed it was the one thought to be lost.
Authorities scanning a remote Australian highway for a tiny missing radioactive capsule have found it by the roadside https://t.co/sn2fI3IA5u pic.twitter.com/AaMUKQ7VMn
— CNN (@CNN) February 1, 2023
A 20-meter wide “hot zone” was subsequently put in place around the capsule, and it will be placed in a lead container before being put to use as a density gauge in the mining industry, the BBC reported. Rio Tinto apologized for its loss and the threat it posed while it was out in the wild.
“While the recovery of the capsule is a great testament to the skill and tenacity of the search team, the fact is it should never have been lost in the first place,” Chief Executive Simon Trott said Wednesday. “We are taking this incident very seriously and are undertaking a full and thorough investigation into how it happened.” (RELATED: REPORT: Chernobyl Nuclear Facility Becomes Russian Prison As Staff Are Held At Gunpoint 24/7)
Emergency services said that they had “literally found the needle in the haystack,” after the capsule fell out somewhere along more than 870 miles of the Great Northern Highway, CNN reported.