A Tiny ‘Highly Radioactive’ Capsule Lost in Vast Australian Desert Raises Alarm

  • Dangerous widget has not been seen for 18 days, Rio says
  • Package found ‘broken apart’ in radiation storage facility
Rio Tinto Has Lost Radioactive Capsule in West Australian DesertPhotographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images Europe
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Rio Tinto Group has lost a “highly radioactive” capsule somewhere along a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) highway through the Western Australian desert.

“We are taking this incident very seriously,” Rio Tinto head of iron ore Simon Trott said in a statement on Sunday. “We recognize this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community.”