'Needle in a Haystack': Missing Radioactive Capsule Found in Australian Outback

Australian emergency services said on February 1 that they had found a tiny radioactive capsule near Newman, Western Australia, ending a large-scale interagency search for the missing object.

Local media citing officials reported that the capsule had come loose and fallen from a vehicle during transportation in mid-January but wasn’t reported missing until January 25.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services Western Australia said the operation spanned 1,400 kilometers from the outback to metropolitan Perth.

The service said the tiny capsule, measuring eight-millimeters by six-millimeters, was located two meters off the Great Northern Highway at 11 am on February 1. It was found by a vehicle search crew using specialized radiation equipment, the service said.

Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said, “We have essentially found the needle in the haystack.” Praising the efforts of emergency services, he added, “When you consider the challenge of finding an object smaller than a 10-cent coin along a 1,400-kilometre stretch of Great Northern Highway, it is a tremendous result.”

The capsule was being transported in a lead container to Newman for secure storage overnight, before it will be taken to a Western Australia health facility in Perth on February 2, the state emergency service said. Credit: Department of Fire and Emergency Services Western Australia via Storyful

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