By Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A lost radioactive capsule
found after a search along a 1,400 km stretch of the arid
Western Australian outback is due to arrive in Perth on Thursday
as investigators work on piecing together just how it fell from
a truck.
The capsule - 6mm in diameter and 8 mm long or about the
size of a tic-tac sweet - was found in the state's remote
northwest on Wednesday. The week-long search retracing the
truck's journey involved 100 people from at least five
government agencies using specialised radiation detection
equipment.
Verified by members of Australia's Defence Force and sealed
in a lead container, the capsule will be securely stored at an
unidentified facility.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lauded its recovery.
"Little radioactive, tiny little thing that they were
looking for like a needle in a haystack. But they found it to
their great credit, though," he told a Perth radio station.
The Caesium-137 capsule lost more than two weeks ago was
found when Australian-invented CORIS360 radiation equipment
mounted to a car driving the Great Northern Highway detected
gamma rays 74 km south of the town Newman in the state's
Kimberley region.
Using portable detection equipment, officials said the team
found the capsule at 11:13 am local time (0313 GMT) on
Wednesday, about 2 metres from the side of the road in an area
far from any community.
No one is thought to have been exposed to radiation and the
site was not permanently contaminated, officials said.
The capsule was part of a gauge used at Rio Tinto's Gudai-Darri iron ore mine. Authorities believe the gauge broke
apart on the journey, dislodging the capsule which then fell out
of its crate and from the truck, a road train with multiple
trailers.
Western Australia's Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson
launched an investigation on Wednesday and said prosecutions
would be considered under state radiation safety laws dating to
1975. A report for Western Australia's Health Minister is due in
several weeks.
The maximum penalty for failing to safely handle radioactive
substances is A$1,000 and A$50 per day the offence continues,
though the state government on Wednesday flagged new rules to
upgrade penalties.
Officials said any changes would not be retrospective.
Rio Tinto has launched its own investigation and has offered
to reimburse the cost of the search. It has also said it will
cooperate fully with the official investigation.
Subcontractors SGS Australia, responsible for the packageing
of the gauge, and Centurion, responsible for its transportation
have also said they will cooperate.
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
@lewjackk))
