Authorities in Western Australia have quite literally found a radioactive needle in a haystack.
Carrying case for radioactive capsules. Source.
On January 12th, a tiny capsule of radioactive cesium-137 from a radiation gauge fell off a transport truck that was on its way from a Rio Tinto mine site to a storage facility in Perth, Western Australia, along a 1400 km stretch of highway in the rural Australian outback.
Due to the radioactive nature of cesium-137, Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services, as well as nuclear scientists quickly launched a desperate search for the tiny capsule, about 8 mm in length. As the search intensified, the public was warned to say at least 5 meters from the radioactive capsule.
Figure 1: The bar chart compares the size of cesium-137 to the size of commonly used Australian coins.
Cesium-137 is a radioactive isotope that is formed from the nuclear fission of uranium-235. Although it is tiny, cesium-137 is very dangerous to the health and wellbeing of anyone who come in contact with it. The radioactive isotope can emit both beta and gamma rays, which can penetrate skin, causing severe radiation burns, sickness, or even death.
Capsule of cesium-137. Source.
.jpg){kind=link}
With a half-life of about 30.05 years before decaying to barium-137m, a stable and non-radioactive isotope. However, “the cesium inside the capsule will [still] be dangerous [until] the next century.” That is according to Edward Obbard, a nuclear materials engineer with the University of New South Wales.
Miraculously, on February 1st, the radioactive capsule of cesium-137 was found just off the side of the highway around 200 km from the mining site. Authorities quickly cordoned off a 20 meter perimeter and safely contained the capsule inside a lead container.
It is important for companies to be extremely careful when transporting radioactive substances. This incident highlights the need to scrutinize the transport of radioactive substances so that a similar incident will not happen again in the future.
–Raymond Tang
I enjoyed this read as the search was framed as an urgent and impossible mission that had a miraculous ending. I would have liked to read something about how the authorities attempted to find the capsule such as any detection tools they used. As well, I feel like the comparison in size of the capsule to coins did not warrant a whole graph. Overall, the blog was written in an easy to read style. Thanks for posting this story!