‘needle in a haystack’
Western Australia’s Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said the discovery was an “extraordinary result” after a search by the state’s emergency response department, defense officials and radiation experts.
“While it was a great challenge to locate this object when you consider the scope of the search area, the search groups have largely found the needle in the haystack,” he said.
An exclusion zone of 20 meters has been established around the capsule while members of the defense forces verify it through serial numbers.
It will then be placed in a lead container and kept overnight at a secure location in the mining town of Newman, about 1,200 km (745 miles) northwest of Perth, before being driven to the state capital on Thursday.
The 6 mm diameter and 8 mm long silver capsule contains cesium-137 which emits radiation equivalent to 10 X-rays per hour.
Officials said the capsule apparently fell off a truck during transport and fell on the side of the road, adding that contamination was unlikely to have occurred in the area.