Someone In Australia Lost A Deadly Radioactive Capsule, Nationwide Search Underway

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What are you doing, Australia? Australia is already the Florida of countries/continents, what with all the wild and weird stuff that happens down there, but this latest news from down under might take the cake.

Friday night, it was reported that a tiny cylinder of radioactive material apparently fell off the back of a truck in Western Australia. Because that’s how you transport dangerous radioactive material in Australia it seems.

According to an emergency warning issued by the Government of Western Australia, “A capsule containing a radioactive substance has been lost during transportation from north of Newman to the north-eastern suburbs of Perth. The substance is used within gauges in mining operations.

“Exposure to this substance could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness. The capsule is small (6mm diameter and 8mm tall), round and silver. Risk to the general community is relatively low, however it is important to be aware of the risks and what to do if you see the capsule.”

While the risk to the general community may be relatively low, god help you if you are the unlucky bastard who stumbles across this radioactive cesium-137 ceramic source cylinder, it is still dangerous enough for Andrew Robertson, Western Australia’s Chief Health Officer to hold a press conference.

“It’s a small silver cylinder,” Robertson said. “It does emit a reasonable amount of radiation.”

Robertson also added that the cylinder puts off radiation equivalent to being x-rayed 10 times per hour. Totally reasonable… in Australia.

If found, people are advised to stay at least 15 meters away, to not touch it, put it in a bag, or put it in your car. Great advice, assuming the person that finds it is an adult.

“The capsule was packaged on 10 January 2023 to be sent to Perth for repair before leaving the site for transport by road between 11 and 14 January 2023,” the warning statement continued.

“The package holding the capsule arrived in Perth on 16 January and was unloaded and stored in the licensed service provider’s secure radiation store.

“On 25 January, the gauge was unpacked for inspection. Upon opening the package, it was found that the gauge was broken apart with one of the four mounting bolts missing and the source itself and all screws on the gauge also missing. DFES as the Hazard Management Agency were notified on the evening of 25 January by WA Police.”

And yet, here we are on the 27th of January just finding out about this. Way to go, Australia.

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Before settling down at BroBible, Douglas Charles, a graduate of the University of Iowa (Go Hawks), owned and operated a wide assortment of websites. He is also one of the few White Sox fans out there and thinks Michael Jordan is, hands down, the GOAT.