A radioactive capsule that fell off a truck in the Australian outback - sparking a radiation alert and a search of hundreds of miles of road - has been found.
Western Australia's emergency services minister said the silver capsule, which emits the isotope Caesium-137, had been located.
Authorities were hunting for the 6mm by 8mm capsule and retracing the truck's 870-mile (1,400km) route with radiation-scanning gear.
The military is checking the capsule and it will be taken to a secure facility in Perth.
Minister Stephen Dawson called it an "extraordinary result".
"When you consider the scope of the research area, locating this object was a monumental challenge, the search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack," he said.
The capsule was found when a vehicle with scanning equipment picked up radiation as it drove past at about 43mph (70kmh).
People had been warned of potential radiation burns or sickness if they came close to the capsule.
Driving past it was described as much lower risk, similar to having an X-ray.
Luckily, It was discovered far from any community and it was unlikely anyone would have been exposed to its radiation, said Western Australia's chief health officer Andrew Robertson.
The capsule is owned by mining firm Rio Tinto and is part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore.
Vibrations during transportation are believed to have caused screws and a bolt to come loose from the gauge, allowing it to fall out.
The search area was vast as the truck covered a distance longer than Britain on its journey from the Gudai-Darri mine to the Perth suburbs.
Police, the defence department and Australia's nuclear safety agency were all involved after the capsule was reported missing on 25 January.
They had been scouring the state's Great Northern Highway as well as other sections of the route used by the road train - a truck pulling multiple trailers.
Some 410 miles (660km) had been searched by Tuesday.
Rio Tinto, which gave the capsule to another company to transport, apologised for the "very concerning" incident and said it had launched its own investigation.
Authorities are doing their own probe and prosecutions could follow.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibWh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L21pc3NpbmctcmFkaW9hY3RpdmUtY2Fwc3VsZS1mb3VuZC1pbi1hdXN0cmFsaWFuLW91dGJhY2stYWZ0ZXItaHVnZS1zZWFyY2gtMTI4MDA0MzDSAXFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvbWlzc2luZy1yYWRpb2FjdGl2ZS1jYXBzdWxlLWZvdW5kLWluLWF1c3RyYWxpYW4tb3V0YmFjay1hZnRlci1odWdlLXNlYXJjaC0xMjgwMDQzMA?oc=5
2023-02-01 08:03:45Z
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