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Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

abc.net.au

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Re: Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

#91

Post by yreg »

isomorphic wrote: post #38
lelaurent wrote: post #8

How did they find it?

The best part of the article: "The Australian Defence Force has been asked to verify the recovered capsule by checking its serial number." So they're not certain they have found it, yet. They could have found one of the other radioactive capsules lying about the Western Australia outback.

The only mildly strange thing about it is that such a check should take like 10 seconds and this article was apparently written after the capsule was found, but before the result of the check was announced.

But the serial number check itself is an obvious thing to do and it doesn't necessarily imply they believe there are more of the capsules missing.

Re: Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

#92

Post by bathyspheric »

hef19898 wrote: post #76
defrost wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing that's because you don't work in a 800 million tonne per annum mining industry that routinely ships heavy equipment 1,000 - 2,000 km backwards and forwards and has done so for 50 years. The equipment was logged when loaded on the 11th, the load sat and then travelled for a couple of days and was unloaded and then sat until it was first inspected (to have the capsule replaced) at which point the loss was…

I just checked some of the articles online, and didn't find any information on the capsule itself. More specifically, what it is used for in mining equipment.

> The lost capsule is a density gauge, commonly used in mining and forms part of a level sensor.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-30/how-wa-authorities-se...

... possibly like this?

https://www.vega.com/en-au/products/product-catalog/level/ra...

Re: Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

#93

Post by 8organicbits »

I wonder what lessons learned and mitigations will come out of this. My armchair analysis is that there should be a Geiger counter on any vehicle moving radioactive material. I suspect the device had shielding to protect the driver, so an alarm should have gone off when that shielding broke. From that point on the driver was sitting close to an unshielded radiation source and in danger. I'm not an expect, but I suspect they'd want to evacuate the driver from truck at that point, although maybe the distance/timescale was small enough? Secondly, the sudden drop in radioactivity when the capsule left the truck should have triggered an alarm and GPS log. That would have shortened the time to notice the issue, reduced the search area, etc.

I'm interested in other ideas.

Re: Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

#94

Post by defrost »

dabiged wrote: post #68
martynr wrote: post #57

Does anyone else feel like this is slightly overblown? From my perspective it was a localised and relatively limited risk and had fairly obvious and achievable corrective actions with a relatively good chance of success. It intrigues me that this seems to be perceived as something so calamitous/ risky.

I think you are missing the context around nuclear anything in Australia. We have no nuclear powerplants. We have no nuclear submarines. Large portions of the country are staunchly against mining uranium. Most people don't know We operate a single nuclear reactor that only produces medical isotopes. There is no nuance on anything nuclear here because it is almost completely absent from the country.

Australia has large Uranium reserves.

It was an Australian nuclear scientist (who later became the South Australian Governor) who convinced the USofA that building an atomic weapon was in fact possible.

Australia has a reasonable number of people in the International weapons inspection (conventional and atomic) game.

Australia performs a significant amount of radiometric surveying.

There is no nuance on anything nuclear here (in Australia) because most people choose to remain unaware.

Re: Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

#95

Post by PeterisP »

krisoft wrote: post #87
iamtedd wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Localised"? Along a route 1400 km long? That's approximately the distance between New York City and Atlanta, GA. Or London, UK to Monaco.

Not in that sense. Localised in the sense that the dangerous zone was limited to a few tens of meters radius, and was unlikely to spread. As opposed to an airborne, or water soluble contamination which can spread to a wide area as the winds or the ground water flows.

Given the tiny size of the capsule, it's only dangerous because it's so concentrated. If it would be diluted by spreading to a wide area, it would just slightly raise the background radiation.

Re: Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

#97

Post by Gravityloss »

defrost wrote: post #54
sounds wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate the willingness to give them a shout out, by name. Not the first time I've had a brush with Rio Tinto.

Yeah, they certainly FUBAR'd and lost brownie points when they blew up Juukan Gorge. Let's not forget they're sitting on $64 billion US worth of Copper in the US on native lands either.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juukan_Gorge Today I learned.

Re: Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

#99

Post by hef19898 »

bathyspheric wrote: post #92
hef19898 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just checked some of the articles online, and didn't find any information on the capsule itself. More specifically, what it is used for in mining equipment.

> The lost capsule is a density gauge, commonly used in mining and forms part of a level sensor. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-30/how-wa-authorities-se... ... possibly like this? https://www.vega.com/en-au/products/product-catalog/level/ra...

Cool, thanks a lot!

Re: Missing radioactive capsule found in WA outback after frantic search

#100

Post by logifail »

8organicbits wrote: post #93

I wonder what lessons learned and mitigations will come out of this. My armchair analysis is that there should be a Geiger counter on any vehicle moving radioactive material. I suspect the device had shielding to protect the driver, so an alarm should have gone off when that shielding broke. From that point on the driver was sitting close to an unshielded radiation source and in danger. I'm not an expect, but I suspe…

> the sudden drop in radioactivity when the capsule left the truck should have triggered an alarm and GPS log

Shouldn't a radioactive source should be shielded when not in use, especially when it's being transported? If so there shouldn't be significant radiation coming from the shielded source inside the truck...

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