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Mining giant 'sorry' over lost radioactive capsule in Australia
1 hour ago
By Monica Miller
BBC News
Mining giant Rio Tinto says it is working with authorities to try to find a radioactive capsule that went missing in Western Australia this month.
"We recognise this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused," the firm told the BBC.
The casing contains a small quantity of radioactive Caesium-137, which could cause serious illness if touched...
You don't have to touch it, just being near it will do..E
...
State officials have issued a radiation alert across a vast swathe of Western Australia.
Authorities are now searching for the capsule on the route from Newman - a small town in the remote Kimberley region - to a storage facility in the northeast suburbs of Perth.
However, exposure to trace quantities of the metal is like "receiving 10 X-rays in an hour, just to put it in context, and... the amount of natural radiation we would receive in a year, just by walking around," said Western Australia's chief health officer Andrew Robertson.
...
However, officials say they are concerned that someone could pick up the capsule, not knowing what it is.
"If you have contact or have it close to you, you could either end up with with skin damage, including skin burns... and if you have it long enough near you, you could cause what is called acute radiation sickness, and that will take a period of time," Mr Robertson added.
This incident comes as the company is trying to repair its reputation in Australia after it was hit by a backlash for destroying sacred Aboriginal rock shelters in Western Australia....
Mining giant 'sorry' over lost radioactive capsule in Australia
1 hour ago
By Monica Miller
BBC News
Mining giant Rio Tinto says it is working with authorities to try to find a radioactive capsule that went missing in Western Australia this month.
"We recognise this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused," the firm told the BBC.
The casing contains a small quantity of radioactive Caesium-137, which could cause serious illness if touched...
You don't have to touch it, just being near it will do..E
...
State officials have issued a radiation alert across a vast swathe of Western Australia.
Authorities are now searching for the capsule on the route from Newman - a small town in the remote Kimberley region - to a storage facility in the northeast suburbs of Perth.
However, exposure to trace quantities of the metal is like "receiving 10 X-rays in an hour, just to put it in context, and... the amount of natural radiation we would receive in a year, just by walking around," said Western Australia's chief health officer Andrew Robertson.
...
However, officials say they are concerned that someone could pick up the capsule, not knowing what it is.
"If you have contact or have it close to you, you could either end up with with skin damage, including skin burns... and if you have it long enough near you, you could cause what is called acute radiation sickness, and that will take a period of time," Mr Robertson added.
This incident comes as the company is trying to repair its reputation in Australia after it was hit by a backlash for destroying sacred Aboriginal rock shelters in Western Australia....
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