A capsule containing radioactive cesium-137 was lost during transit, prompting Australian authorities to issue warnings to many localities.
Western Australia state officials on January 27 issued a “radioactive substance risk” warning for some localities, including the capital Perth, after discovering a radioactive pellet used for mining equipment was damaged. lost in transit.
This radioactive pellet is cylindrical, silver shell, about 6 mm in diameter and about 8 mm long, containing radioactive cesium-137 inside.
“This radioactive substance is used for measuring techniques in mining. If it comes in close contact with the substance, the victim can get burns or suffer from certain diseases related to radiation,” the Fire and Rescue Service said. Western Australia state of emergency issues alert.
Australian authorities searched for a radioactive device that was lost on January 27 on the road from Newman to Perth, Western Australia. Photo: DFES.
According to the original plan, the equipment was transported by truck from a mine near the town of Newman to the northern suburbs of Perth for a total distance of more than 1,200 km.
The truck left the Rio Tino mine on January 11 and arrived at the warehouse in Malaga, Perth on January 16. However, on January 25, Australian officials received a report from Rio Tino Corporation that no radioactive pellets were found during the inventory process.
According to Andrew Robertson, Western Australia’s state health officer, anyone standing near the device without standard protective clothing is at risk of skin irritation or radiation burns.
Exposure if a person stands 1 m away from this device would be equivalent to taking 17 consecutive X-rays.
The size of the radioactive pellet was lost when placed next to an Australian 10 cent coin. Graphics: DFES.
“If the device is kept close to the body for an extended period of time, exposure to the patient long enough could have some more serious effects, including effects on the immune system,” added Robertson.
The director general of the Western Australua Radiation Safety Authority, Lauren Steen, said that this is a rare radioactive incident because the process of transporting radioactive materials always adheres to strict safety regulations.
“These devices are usually shipped in a well-packaged, multi-step test. The shipping box design is also rigorously tested for resistance to vibrations, temperatures, and impacts.” she said.
“This is a very strange incident, once every hundred years,” she said.
The initial theory of Australian authorities was that the truck during transportation shook violently, causing the radioactive pellet to fall out of a specialized box and into a hole in a rivet that came loose and lost.
They said the search process could take weeks and there was no guarantee that the missing radioactive pellet would be found.
Name (Theo Reuters, ABC)