Authorities in Western Australia on Wednesday recovered a tiny but dangerous radioactive capsule that fell off a truck while being transported along a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) Outback highway last month in what an official said was like finding the needle in the haystack.
Officials said the capsule the size of a pea was found south of the mining town of Newman on the Great Northern Highway. It was detected by a search vehicle travelling at 70 kilometers per hour when specialist equipment picked up radiation emitting from the capsule."This is an extraordinary result ... they have quite literally found the needle in the haystack," said Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson.
A government investigation has been launched into how the capsule fell off the truck and a report will be provided to the health minister. The chief executive of the mining giant Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Simon Trott, has apologized for the incident and expressed gratitude for the find.
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