Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
1–10 of 357 posts
Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#2Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#3I worked in cosmic rays for a time and there is some overlap between the challenge of finding the capsule, and common astroparticle physics problems.
> The capsule, which contains a small amount of cesium-137, is dangerously radioactive, according to the authorities. An hour of exposure at about a meter away is the equivalent of having 10 X-rays, and prolonged contact can cause skin burns, acute radiation sickness and cancer, they said.
I'd think this should be enough information to calculate the size (which the authorities should know, but we probably don't), and from the size the total beta and gamma flux should be calculable. Once the fluxes are understood, I imagine that could tell you how fast/slow you could/should drive on the highway to have a good chance of detection (I imagine the penetrating gamma signal would give better odds), for any given detector, assuming some maximum distance of the capsule from the highway.
Interesting problem, I hope they pick it up before someone gets hurt.
Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#4Here's a story about a lost capsule[0] that ended up being made into building material for the wall of an apartment if you think something small isn't worth being concerned about.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramatorsk_radiological_accide...
Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#5Curious. I would expect something that seems so threatening, has such a tiny effect on the environment that it can't even be detected. Something not adding up.
Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#6Curious. I would expect something that seems so threatening, has such a tiny effect on the environment that it can't even be detected. Something not adding up.
[flagged]
Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#7Curious. I would expect something that seems so threatening, has such a tiny effect on the environment that it can't even be detected. Something not adding up.
[deleted]
Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#8Curious. I would expect something that seems so threatening, has such a tiny effect on the environment that it can't even be detected. Something not adding up.
This also happened in Ukraine. The capsule was lost in a gravel pit and ended up being built into the wall of an apartment and several people died as a result.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramatorsk_radiological_accide...
Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#9Curious. I would expect something that seems so threatening, has such a tiny effect on the environment that it can't even be detected. Something not adding up.
This also happened in Ukraine. The capsule was lost in a gravel pit and ended up being built into the wall of an apartment and several people died as a result. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramatorsk_radiological_accide...
Not really a regionally significant nuclear accident then. About the same as a gas leak?
Re: Australians scour desert for dangerous radioactive capsule smaller than a penny
#10Curious. I would expect something that seems so threatening, has such a tiny effect on the environment that it can't even be detected. Something not adding up.
[flagged]
Not my question at all.
How can it be so deadly/radioactive, yet so hard to detect?
Further, asking questions is indeed the point of these discussions. Re-reading the standards I see no prohibition.
And reading that reference article, the loss it cites was 19Tb (19 trillion bequerels). This lost capsule in Australia contains less than 100. So around what? 10 billion times less dangerous?
Thanks for the reference material, now I'm more sure than ever that this article is some kind of clickbait about a fairly miniscule risk being trumpeted as a national incident.