Mining giant Rio Tinto apologises after radioactive capsule lost in Australia

MELBOURNE — Rio Tinto Ltd's iron ore division chief Simon Trott apologised on Monday (Jan 30) after a contractor hired by the mining giant lost a radioactive capsule in transit in Western Australia which sparked a radiation alert across parts of the state.

Authorities said the radioactive capsule used in mining was lost during transport from north of Newman — a small town in the remote Kimberley region — to a storage facility in the northeast suburbs of Perth, a distance of 1,200 km or further than the length of the UK.

A search is now underway for the small silver capsule containing Caesium-137 which emits radiation equal to 10 x-rays per hour and which authorities have recommended people stay at least five metres from.

"We are taking this incident very seriously. We recognise this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community," Trott said in a statement.

"Rio Tinto engaged a third-party contractor, with appropriate expertise and certification, to safely package the device in preparation for transport off-site ahead of receipt at their facility in Perth," he said, adding that Rio was also conducting its own investigation into how the loss occurred.

Early reports suggested the loss was not discovered for almost two weeks after the capsule left Rio's Gudai-Darri mine site. Rio said it was informed by the contractor the capsule was missing on Jan 25.

"We have completed radiological surveys of all areas on site where the device had been, and surveyed roads within the mine site as well as the access road leading away from the Gudai-Darri mine site," Trott said.

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Source: Reuters