By Lindsay Potter
Australian authorities searched for over two weeks to find a radioactive capsule smaller than a penny along a 1,400 km stretch of road longer than Great Britain. Radioactive detection equipment found the capsule, which contains cesium-137 and could cause skin burns, radiation sickness, and cancer. The capsule was part of a gauge that reads the density of iron ore feed. Though the tool is built for heavy working conditions, authorities claimed road vibration caused screws to shake loose and the capsule to fall en route from a mine in the outback to the coastal city of Perth. The missing minutia, 6mm by 8mm, put a large swath of Western Australia on radiation alert, though it is five times smaller than the 30mm radioactive rounds of depleted uranium ammunition the U.S. used in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and both Iraq wars, possibly on the table for use in Ukraine, which prompts no radiation alert. Not to be outdone, the U.S. to date has admitted to losing six nuclear warheads and has shown no great alarm or hurry to recover them. — The Guardian, Feb. 1, Jan. 28; Reuters, Jan. 31; WCTI 12, Jan. 24, 2023
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