It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. With the difference that a needle does not emit radiation equivalent to 10 X-rays per hour, nor can it cause burns to whoever is very close. That was the main danger of the radioactive capsule that was lost in the vast region of Western Australia and whose search became almost a matter of state in the oceanic country.
The search has come to an end this Wednesday. “We have literally found the needle in the haystack,” the emergency services reported after confirming that the capsule had appeared on the side of the road where it is believed to have fallen two weeks ago. It was not an easy job: the stretch of road where it was believed that it could be was 1,400 kilometers.
The surreal news of the week in Australia began when it was reported that a tiny silver capsule, six millimeters in diameter and eight millimeters long, containing a small amount of Cesium-137 and which was part of an indicator used to measure the density of the supply of iron ore, very common in the mining industry, fell from the truck carrying it on a journey from a small town called Newman to the city of Perth. The meter was being transported by a subcontracted company, which picked it up from the mine on January 12 for transfer to a storage facility.
It is believed that, during the truck ride, the screws vibrated loose, as did a bolt securing the lead-lined indicator, and the capsule fell out of the package in which it was attached, then slipped out through some tiny hole in it. in the rear of the vehicle.
At the end of last week, the authorities deployed a team with portable sensors to detect radiation levels along the highway. Even the country’s nuclear safety agency said on Tuesday that it had joined the search. The population of Western Australia, home to more than two million people, was also asked to stay at least five meters away from the road frequented by trucks where it was believed that a capsule may have fallen, which, after being examined by army specialists, it will eventually be taken to the secure Perth facility.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
