A Tiny Radioactive Capsule Has Been Lost In Australia

Huffington Post ^ | Jan 28, 2023 | no author named

[rod5591]

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Authorities in Western Australia were searching for a tiny but potentially deadly radioactive capsule that got lost while being transported on a truck from a mine to a depot in the city of Perth, officials said Saturday.

It is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck on a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) journey from the Rio Tinto mine in Newman to the the Perth suburb of Malaga.

There are concerns the solid capsule may have already become lodged in another vehicle’s tyre and potentially be hundreds of kilometers (miles) away from the search area.

It is believed a screw became loose inside a large lead-lined gauge and the unit fell through a hole.

[rod5591]

Meanwhile, ineptitude rules in Australia

[Waverunner]

The dingo ate my homework... Giant mutated kangaroo’s and dingo’s will rule the outback.. TOHO will make a mint off of this.

[Vendome]

[irishjuggler]

This sounds like the opening scenes of a superhero comic book.

[wildcard_redneck]

Seinfeld is comedy gold.

[Libloather]

It is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck...

Unwanted family members, captured feral cats, radioactive capsules - that's always my go-to excuse.

[LittleBillyInfidel]

That’s odd! It’s usually just a harmless Advil that rolls off of the back of trucks.

[RWGinger]

BEST post of the week

[Scarlett156]

“I got some burgers and was shuffling things around in the cab, and, well, I left the darned thing on the hood.”

[PLMerite]

"It is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck on a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) journey from the Rio Tinto mine in Newman to the the Perth suburb of Malaga. "

[BobL]

Nothing personal, but I have better things to waste my time on other than Tiny Radioactive Capsules in Australia.

[Bobalu]

From the article, at least this much is certain...

“It is believed a screw became loose”

[gitmo]

This sounds like the opening scenes of a superhero comic book.

My thoughts exactly.

[gitmo]

[Zathras]

“The night the fish came out”

[Tijeras_Slim]

19 Bq source.

That’s 5.13e-7 mCi (millicuries)

Pretty weak.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Just up and fell off the back of a truck ... really? Think someone sold it?

[Rennes Templar]

Aussie security. “She’ll be right, Mate”

[I want the USA back]

So obviously the consequences were well known. When something absolutely MUST NOT be allowed to happen, my expectation is that the people in charge would take the proper precautions so it doesn’t happen.

Remember the Air Controllers and the ONE FILE whose deletion brought down the entire system?

[G Larry]

There are standards, readily available to avoid this stupidity.

Note what happened after SAC was dissolved in 1992.