Emergency Services say they have ‘quite literally found the needle in the haystack’ after nearly a week-long search.
Australian authorities say they have located a dangerous radioactive capsule that was lost along a 1,400km (870-mile) stretch of highway in the Outback region of Australia, an emergency services official said.
After nearly a week-long search, Emergency Services announced in a news conference on Wednesday that the military was verifying the capsule – which was found on the side of the road just outside Newman – and would take it to a secure facility in Perth.
“When you consider the scope of the research area, locating this object was a monumental challenge, the search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack,” emergency services minister Stephen Dawson said.
The radioactive silver capsule measuring 6mm (0.24 inches) wide and 8mm (0.31 inches) long was part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed from Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri mine in the state’s remote Kimberley region.
The ore was being taken to a facility in the suburbs of Perth, a distance longer than the length of Britain. Authorities suspect vibrations on the bumpy road loosened screws and a bolt on the gauge letting the capsule fall out.
