紛失のセシウム入り容器、道路脇で発見　豪

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリア西部で先月、高濃度の放射性物質セシウムが入った微小な容器が輸送中のトラックから落ち所在が分からなくなっていた問題で、当局は１日、容器が道路脇で見つかったと発表した。（写真は豪ウエスタンオーストラリア州ニューマン南郊で見つかったセシウム入り容器。同州消防救急当局提供）
　紛失していたのは、縦８ミリ、横６ミリの銀色の円筒。人の爪よりも小さい容器だが、急性放射線障害を引き起こすのに十分な量のセシウム１３７が入っていた。
　ウエスタンオーストラリア州の非常事態当局トップ、スティーブン・ドーソン氏によると、発見場所は、容器がトラックに積み込まれた鉄鉱山に程近いニューマン南郊の幹線道路脇。
　ドーソン氏は容器の発見に安堵（あんど）感を示し、「まさに干し草の中で針を見つけたようなものだ。今夜は州民も安眠できるだろう」と述べた。
　容器は鉄鉱山から１４００キロ離れたパース郊外に輸送される途中でトラックから落ちたとみられ、紛失が判明してから６日間にわたり捜索が行われていた。当局は回収した容器を、安全な場所に移送するとしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/02/02-13:59）

A tiny but dangerously radioactive capsule that fell off a truck on a remote Australian outback highway has been found, relieved authorities said Wednesday.
The silver-coloured cylinder -- smaller than a human fingernail -- was recovered by the side of the road near the town of Newman, Western Australia, state emergency services said.
The capsule disappeared from a truck travelling along the Great Northern Highway from a remote mine operated by Rio Tinto to the southwestern city of Perth sometime in mid-January.
Its disappearance went unnoticed until later in the month.
For the last week, vehicles carrying radiation detection equipment have been scouring a strip of Australia larger than the distance between Madrid and Paris, or New York and Chicago.
Although just eight millimetres by six millimetres, it contains enough Caesium-137 to cause acute radiation sickness.
It's a good result, minister Stephen Dawson told reporters. It's certainly a needle in a haystack that has been found, and I think West Australians can sleep better tonight.
The capsule is part of a gauge used for measuring the density of iron ore.
It was part of a package picked up on January 12 from Rio Tinto's Gudai-Darri iron ore mine and delivered to the Perth suburb of Malaga on January 16.
But the package was not opened until January 25 when the gauge was found broken apart with the radioactive capsule missing. State police were informed the same day.
It was ultimately found a few hours drive from the mine.
- 'Extremely rare' -
On Wednesday a team -- including members of the Australian military -- identified the capsule before loading it into a lead-lined container to shield people from radiation.
It was now been transported to a secure location and will begin another journey to Perth on Thursday.
The site has been surveyed and cleared of any residual radiological contamination, state emergency services said.
Rio Tinto welcomed the capsule's recovery and repeated an earlier apology over the extremely rare incident.
I'd like to apologise to the wider community of Western Australia for the concern it has generated, Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Executive Simon Trott said in a statement.
According to the mining giant, the capsule was being transported by a certified contractor when it was lost.
Authorities believe the container it was in collapsed because of vibrations during transportation before it apparently fell through the hole left by a missing bolt.
An investigation into the incident has been launched and penalties are being considered.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier responded to reports that those responsible for the lost pellet could only face a fine of Aus$1,000 (US$700) under current legislation.
One, it shouldn't have been lost. That's the first thing, and second -- yeah, of course, that figure's ridiculously low, but I suspect that it's ridiculously low because people didn't think that such an item would be lost.