searching for a needle in a haystack? Hold our beer!

[Virgulino Ferreira]

This pic from the ABC is a tad alarmist at this point. That kit won't stop radiation, and if it had been run over by a road train and breached, standing upwind would be better than trusting the filter.

It's just the usual cheap journalism: click-bait headline and photo of a hot woman.

 

[LB 15]

It's just the usual cheap journalism: click-bait headline and photo of a hot woman.

abc.net/radiationpoisoninginkaga...n....

 

[Alhadder]

And another radioactive materials expert and Associate Professor at Curtin Uni has chipped in with his thoughts

"Curtin University associate professor and radioactive materials expert, Nigel Marks, described the sequence of events leading to the loss of the capsule as "remarkable".
"At the moment, I don't think anybody can quite believe that something that's highly radioactive has fallen off the back of a truck,"" in this article

Loss of radioactive capsule because 'a few screws came undone and bolt was missing' puzzles expert

One expert says there is disbelief over how a dangerous radioactive capsule that disappeared in Western Australia "fell off the back of a truck", sparking an urgent warning and calls for tougher safety measures.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Marcjsmith]

Marks think losing a capsule is remarkable...

Ha....our military still has 6 missing nuclear bombs.....one would think they’d be much harder to lose.....

 

[Point Break]

Yeah……methinks falling off the back of the truck is likely NOT what happened……but it is a great impossible to check/refute excuse.

 

[sAiLiNg AnArChY]

Found it!

What!?

Oh, that's my hearing aid battery...

 

[Goodvibes]

AND what is the big fucking deal here?

This has been eating at me, so a quick google for just one country finds the below report on missing and recovered sources. And don't get me started on the same list for the US!

So I don't get why the WA one is such a big fucking deal. DO they just need some news? Is everyone sick of racist reports on Alice?

There are millions of them all over the world, this has to happen frequently, aaaaaannnnddd ... it does!
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

Reports on Lost or Stolen Sealed Sources and Radiation Devices​

Event Date	Event ID	Event Type	Location	Province	Event Description	Sealed Source Category	Recovered Date
2022-09-09	5690	Stolen	Sarnia	ON	Stolen portable gauge	4	2022-09-11
2022-06-02	5580	Stolen	St-Albert	AB	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2022-03-29	5524	Lost	Montréal	QC	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2022-02-15	5488	Lost	Montréal	QC	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2022-01-17	5450	Stolen	Prince George	BC	Stolen portable gauge	4	2022-01-19
2021-10-19	5360	Stolen	London	ON	Stolen portable gauge	4	2021-10-31
2021-10-13	5357	Loss	Mississauga	ON	Lost fixed gauge	4	Not recovered
2021-09-27	5343	Loss	Edmonton	AB	Lost 21 sealed sources (eye patch)	5	Not recovered
2021-07-14	5280	Stolen	Chilliwack	BC	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2021-06-30	5273	Lost	Toronto	ON	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2021-05-09	5209	Stolen	Maple Ridge	BC	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2021-04-06	5194	Found	Calgary	AB	Found four fixed gauges	5	2021-04-06
2021-04-05	5180	Stolen	Clearwater	BC	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2020-11-19	5081	Loss	London	ON	Lost XRF Analyzer	5	Not recovered
2020-10-14	5062	Loss	Montreal	QC	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2020-07-16	4975	Stolen	Montreal	QC	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2020-04-28	4935	Stolen	Calgary	AB	Stolen portable gauge	4	2020-04-30
2020-01-16	4865	Loss	Montreal	QC	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2020-01-15	4875	Loss	St-Thomas	ON	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2019-11-07	4814	Loss	Montreal	QC	Lost static eliminator	5	Not recovered
2019-04-15	4627	Loss	Woodridge	ON	Lost two sealed sources	5	Not recovered
2019-03-12	4612	Loss	Montreal	QC	Lost liquid scintillation counter	5	Not recovered
2019-01-11	3558	Loss	Greenfield Park	QC	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2018-12-04	3528	Loss	Pickering	ON	Lost smoke detectors	5	Not recovered
2018-08-22	3450	Loss	Medicine Hat	AB	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2018-07-09	3396	Loss	Edmonton	AB	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2018-06-08	3371	Stolen	Québec	QC	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2018-05-09	3336	Loss	Montreal	QC	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2018-04-12	3302	Loss	Bécancour	QC	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2017-11-01	3180	Loss	Toronto	ON	Lost check source	5	Not recovered
2017-10-01	3159	Stolen	Toronto	ON	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2017-10-01	3220	Loss	Toronto	ON	Lost check source	5	Not recovered
2017-06-20	3088	Loss	Edmonton	AB	Lost five liquid scintillation counters	5	Not recovered
2017-02-20	2998	Loss	Montreal	QC	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2016-12-08	2955	Loss	Ottawa	ON	Lost sealed source	5	Not recovered
2016-10-03	2867	Stolen	Montreal	QC	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2016-01-08	2677	Loss	Pickering	ON	Lost sealed sources	5	Not recovered
2015-10-07	2598	Stolen	Les Cedres	QC	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not recovered
2015-09-30	2591	Loss	Richmond	BC	Lost sealed source-Cs-137	5	Not recovered
2015-09-21	2590	Loss	Edmonton	AB	Lost sealed sources	5	Not recovered
2015-06-30	2556	Loss	Mississauga	ON	Lost 3 check sources	5	Not recovered
2015-06-20	2491	Stolen	Montreal	QC	Troxler 3411B Stolen Portable Gauge	4	Not recovered
2014-10-21	2309	Loss	London	ON	Lost liquid scintillation counter	5	Not recovered
2014-10-06	2258	Stolen	Fort McMurray	AB	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not Recovered
2014-09-15	2251	Loss	Quebéc	QC	Loss of a sealed source	5	Not Recovered
2014-08-29	2259	Stolen	Red Deer	AB	Stolen portable gauge	4	Not Recovered
2014-05-28	2193	Stolen	Edmonton	AB	Stolen X-ray fluorescence analyzer	5	Not recovered
2014-03-21	2132	Loss	Toronto	ON	Loss of 14 sealed sources Loss of 1 sealed source	5 3	1 X Cat 3 and 1 Cat 5 sealed sources recovered on 2014-05-27
2013-10-30	2051	Loss	Baie-Comeau	QC	Loss of two hygrometers	5	Not Recovered
2013-10-17	2052	Loss	Ottawa	ON	Loss of 5 sealed sources	5	Not Recovered
2013-05-10	1938	Loss	Mississauga	ON	Lost fixed gauge	N/A	Not Recovered
2013-02-23	1870	Loss	Fort McMurray	AB	Loss of a fixed gauge	5	(1 X fixed gauge) Not Recovered
2012-11-20	1814	Stolen	Vaughan	ON	Stolen Portable Gauge	4	(1X Portable Gauge) Not Recovered
2012-06-04	1727	Loss	Montreal	QC	Lost Radiation Device	5	(1X Ra-226 source) Not recovered.
2011-11-20	1587	Stolen	Km 144, Autoroute 10, Magog	QC	Portable Gauge Stolen	4	(1X Portable gauge). Not recovered
2011-09-30	1564	Loss	Toronto	ON	Missing Niton XL Analyzer	5	(1X Am-241 Niton X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer). Not recovered.
2011-07-11	1508	Stolen	near Regina	SK	Portable gauge stolen from worksite	4	(1X Portable gauge). Not recovered
2011-06-08	1485	Stolen	Montreal	QC	Stolen portable gauge	4	(1X Portable gauge). Not recovered
2010-11-23	1380	Loss	Surrey	BC	Lost XRF radiation device	5	(1X XRF Device) Not Recovered
2010-10-31	1668	Stolen	Iqaluit	NU	Stolen XRF analyzer	5	(1 X Thermo XRF) Not recovered
2010-07-29	1347	Stolen	Montreal	QC	Stolen portable gauge	4	(1X Portable gauge). Not recovered.
2010-05-31	1282	Stolen	Vaughan	ON	Stolen Portable Gauge	4	(1X Portable gauge). Not recovered.
2009-08-17	1196	Stolen	Hwy 903, Kelly Lake	SK	Stolen portable gauge	4	(1 X Portable gauge). Not recovered.
2009-08-05	1182	Stolen	Scarborough	ON	Stolen portable gauge	4	(1 X Portable gauge). Not recovered.
2009-04-30	1126	Found Nuclear Substance	La Prairie	QC	Found nuclear substance/Scrap Alarm	4	(1 x Cs-137 source from Portable gauge) Recovered on April 30,2009. Am-241 source not recovered. Refer to Event ID 1098
2008-12-03	1098	Stolen	Laval	QC	Stolen portable gauge	4	(1X Portable gauge) Cs-137 source and handle recovered from scrap metal facility on April 30, 2009. Am-241 source not recovered

 

[ShortForBob]

In theory. Two guys in a car one driving, one with Geiger counter. When the needle blips. Stop check it out. Wash rinse repeat for a few thousand miles.

or just wait until the the animals start mutating...more

Just don't drive there via Maralinga.

 

[Virgulino Ferreira]

AND what is the big fucking deal here?

I think a big part of the deal is the fight to hold Rio Tinto accountable. They have a century-long history of not caring, or doing horrible things, and getting away with it.

"It wasn't our fault, it was the subcontractor's fault" is a basic corporate immunity strategy.

 

[veni vidi vici]

I think a big part of the deal is the fight to hold Rio Tinto accountable. They have a century-long history of not caring, or doing horrible things, and getting away with it.

"It wasn't our fault, it was the subcontractor's fault" is a basic corporate immunity strategy.

Bingo !
I think you are on to something

 

[Goodvibes]

I think a big part of the deal is the fight to hold Rio Tinto accountable. They have a century-long history of not caring, or doing horrible things, and getting away with it.

"It wasn't our fault, it was the subcontractor's fault" is a basic corporate immunity strategy.

doesn't make sense to me.

There is no shortage of better things to hammer them on, the cunts. Like blowing up antiquities, or like, another small one, killing the planet?

 

[Virgulino Ferreira]

There is no shortage of better things to hammer them on, the cunts. Like blowing up antiquities, or like, another small one, killing the planet?

This has not worked so far. Perhaps fear of giant mutant killer koalas has a better chance.

 

[Alhadder]

Mein Gott and now the PM is commenting on this lost capsule

'Ridiculously low': Prime minister slams penalty for lost radioactive material as hunt drags on

As the search continues for a dangerous radioactive capsule in WA, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has scoffed at the potential penalty that could be imposed on the companies behind the loss.

www.abc.net.au

And towards the end of the article I find the comment by the current Health Minister incredulous that successive WA Governments, and their Attorney-General and/or Health Minister in particular, have not increased the penalty from when the legislation was originally passed back in the 70's.

 

[00seven]

Found it.

'We've found the needle in the haystack': Tiny radioactive capsule found in outback WA

The tiny radioactive capsule was found following an extensive search in Western Australia's outback that was likened to trying to find a needle in a haystack.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Alhadder]

Found it.

'We've found the needle in the haystack': Tiny radioactive capsule found in outback WA

The tiny radioactive capsule was found following an extensive search in Western Australia's outback that was likened to trying to find a needle in a haystack.

www.abc.net.au

Wow. Once the big guns were in town they found that pretty quickly.

So...the story re falling off the back of a truck may have had some credence...or whoever misplaced/stole it decided to place it somewhere along the known transport route so it'd be found. No doubt Dr Goodvibes will have his theory

 

[00seven]

Wow. Once the big guns were in town they found that pretty quickly.

So...the story re falling off the back of a truck may have had some credence...or whoever misplaced/stole it decided to place it somewhere along the known transport route so it'd be found. No doubt Dr Goodvibes will have his theory

Quite the Emu walk. Randy the noocklear scientist would have found it a week ago with all his training.

 

[Goodvibes]

Bogans fucking hate educated people.

 

[ShortForBob]

Wow. Once the big guns were in town they found that pretty quickly.

So...the story re falling off the back of a truck may have had some credence...or whoever misplaced/stole it decided to place it somewhere along the known transport route so it'd be found. No doubt Dr Goodvibes will have his theory

well that was fun.
I suppose when you think about it it's not that hard to find something near the side of the road that's emitting a radiation field of a couple of metres.

I still think someone nicked it and decided to put it back.

 

[DRIFTW00D]

Good news. Crisis averted.
These guys would never let their case of Foster's fall off of their truck. Priorities!

 

[bowman81]

Good news. Crisis averted.
These guys would never let their case of Foster's fall off of their truck. Priorities!

Not sure you can even buy a fosters in Australia anymore... Haven't seen one in fourteen years and that was in London.