The radiation emitted by the capsule is life-threatening.
11:16•Updated 11:54
Australian authorities have managed to find a tiny capsule that disappeared in the Western Australian desert two weeks ago.
The capsule was found in a car equipped with a radiation meter, which was traveling on the highway at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour.
An unprecedented search operation was launched in Western Australia last week. Its target was a 6 by 8 millimeter capsule that had fallen from a car belonging to the Rio Tinto mineral exploration company. The size of the capsule can be compared to the nail of the little toe.
What made the capsule life-threatening was that it contains the element cesium-137, which emits beta and gamma radiation. The intensity of the radiation corresponded to ten x-rays per hour.
According to the authorities, staying near a radiation source would cause burns and other radiation diseases.
The search for the tiny object seemed like an impossible operation, as the car carrying the object had traveled 1,400 kilometers from Perth to the small town of Newton. At first, the searchers had no idea where in the mountainous region the capsule had fallen from the hole in the bottom of the car.
A large number of representatives of the authorities were sent to search. Some had cars equipped with radiation meters that examined the road surface. Searchers on foot rake the sides of the road with their radiometers.
The capsule was finally found south of the city of Newton, he says Sydney Morning Herald newspaper (you are switching to another service).
In Australia, the case has sparked a debate about the storage of radioactive materials. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese according to the law, the fines imposed for the loss of substances are ridiculously small.
– They are ridiculously small because no one has thought that they would be destroyed, he said at a press conference in Perth.
According to experts, leaving the capsule on the side of the road does not cause radioactive contamination in the area.
Sources: AP, Reuters