‘Relatively common’: WA’s lost-and-found radioactive capsule not the only missing material around

The missing capsule was discovered by an agency vehicle carrying specialist equipment to detect the radiation it gives off. Photograph: Department Of Fire And Emergency Services WA/AAP

If finding the tiny radioactive capsule that went missing in the vast Australian outback was like finding a needle in a haystack, at least the needle was crying out “here I am!”, Dr Edward Obbard says.

Just 8mm by 6mm – the size of a 10c coin – the capsule fell out of a truck on its way from a Rio Tinto mine site in Western Australia’s Pilbara region to Perth, sparking a six-day hunt across the 1,400km desert route.