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Someone fixin' tuh get fired: Australian radioactive nugget lost


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Posted

As the search continues for a tiny radioactive capsule in Western Australia, the state's deputy premier says there needs to be a review into how it disappeared.  The tiny radioactive source was part of a radiation gauge used commonly to measure radioactivity in oil and gas processing plants.  It was lost in transit somewhere along a 1,400 kilometre journey between a Rio Tinto mine site in WA's north, and a depot in the suburb of Malaga about 11km north of Perth's CBD, between January 11 and January 16.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-29/call-for-review-into-disappearance-of-radioactive-capsule/101904900

 

Posted (edited)

As if Australia needed more dangerous animals. Now there are going to be giant plutonium toads all over the fucking place.

 

 

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Edited by smuggs
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Posted

DQA: Is this honestly any sort of deal? Seems like an attention-grabbing headline but losing a tiny bit in the middle of the desert seems to be not that concerning.

Posted
1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

If only it emitted some sort of signal to help locate it

It does of course, and so if this has really not fallen far off the road, it will not take too long to find it, even if they have to look for thousands of miles. Gamma ray spectroscopy FTW!

 

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Posted
22 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

This news has me wanting to bang a bunch of hot Australian chicks.

and have them make you a vegemite sandwich afterwards?

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Posted
7 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

DQA: Is this honestly any sort of deal? Seems like an attention-grabbing headline but losing a tiny bit in the middle of the desert seems to be not that concerning.

The route was 870 miles long and the capsule is smaller than a penny.

But what it lacks in size, the capsule makes up for in radiation. Containing the radioactive isotope cesium-137, the capsule emits the equivalent of 10 X-rays in an hour. Contact could cause burns, radiation sickness, and skin damage, and prolonged exposure could lead to cancer.

So, what’s it even used for? Mining companies deploy these capsules as sensors to calculate things like the thickness of pipes. The mining company that managed to lose this capsule, industry giant Rio Tinto, apologized and said it was launching an investigation into the perplexing circumstances of how this tiny object fell off a truck.

Posted

Its probably in a box that's why it's so hard to find.  Those things are about 5 curie sources.  They'd just has to send a NIST plane in that area and they would pick up something way greater than background.  If it was in a lead box like it should be.  Then it would be like finding a small suitcase in a desert.

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Posted
35 minutes ago, CycleTex87 said:

csb/ I once imported one of these small radioactive elements into Nigeria for a similar measuring device.  My God, the paperwork required, you can’t even imagine/csb

Try getting one through an airport and on an airliner in your carry-on if you want to talk about paperwork and legal hassles.

Pre-9/11, very easy though.

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Posted
6 hours ago, RPM said:

Just needed a walkabout with a Geiger counter

A micro cache in "Western Australia".  Even with a radioactive marker hint, that's a seriously good geocache find.

Posted
On 1/30/2023 at 8:45 AM, CooterBrown said:

Seems like this should’ve been in a large lead lined carrying case that’s impossible to misplace instead of just bouncing around in the cup holder of a ‘97 Hilux.

To be fair, the '97 Hilux is more indestructible than the lead lined carrying case.

 

This YouTube channel has lots of videos about different radiation disaters, https://www.youtube.com/@PlainlyDifficult, such as the Goiania incident.

Posted

We had a whole book on radiation incidents when I was on the submarine.  The wildest one was I believe Argentina.  A truck crashed and they looted it.  Like 40 people died from acute radiation poisoning from moving material

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