--- title: "Miners Say “Sorry” for Losing Highly Radioactive Object Along Highway" description: "Mining giant Rio Tinto misplaced a \"highly radioactive\" object along a Western Australian highway, several outlets report. If it helps, they're \"sorry.\"" date: "2023-01-30" modified: "2023-01-30" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/miners-sorry-losing-radioactive-object" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "Mining" - "radioactive" - "radioactivity" - "the digest" --- # Miners Say “Sorry” for Losing Highly Radioactive Object Along Highway ![Mining giant Rio Tinto misplaced a "highly radioactive" object along a Western Australian highway, several outlets report. If it helps, they're "sorry."]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## My Bad International mining giant Rio Tinto has admitted to misplacing a "highly radioactive" object along an 870-mile Western Australian highway, several outlets report. But if it's any consolation, they're very, very sorry. "We are taking this incident very seriously," Rio Tinto head of iron ore Simon Trott said in a Sunday [statement to the media](). "We recognize this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community." ## Princess and the Pea At just eight millimeters in length, the object in question — a tiny "widget," [as *Bloomberg* put it](), containing the radioactive isotope caesium-137 — is roughly the size of a pea. All to say: not exactly the easiest thing to recover from an unknown spot on an 870-mile-long stretch of roadway. "If you dangled a magnet over a haystack," Andrew Stuchbery, head of the Australian National University's department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications, [told *Reuters*](), "it's going to give you more of a chance." And despite its puny size, this object — which is a component of a larger device that measures the density of iron ore — isn't benign. It emits radiation "equal to ten X-rays per hour," according to *Reuters*. And while anyone who drives past it won't be hit with too much radiation, overexposure or mishandling could reportedly cause radiation burns or even radioactive sickness. "It's quite radioactive so if you get close to it, it will stick out," Stuchbery added. Regardless of the challenges they face in the search for the radioactive capsule, Australian authorities seem to be in good spirits, with emergency services personnel telling the *BBC* that their chances of success are "pretty good." Noted. ## Apology Tour This isn't the only recent Rio Tinto scandal in the area. Back in 2020, the company [came under fire]() for damaging two Aboriginal heritage sites, [including a cave]() in the Juukan Gorge that showed signs of occupation dating back 46,000 years — and had a 4,000-year-old genetic link to its present-day owners. The mining corp [said]() it was "sorry" for that, too. In any case, we hope that the radioactive pea is discovered before it causes anyone any harm. But we're sure that if it does, a Rio Tinto apology will be very quick to follow. **READ MORE:** *[Rio Tinto apologizes for loss of tiny radioactive capsule in Australian outback]()* \[*Reuters*\] **More on radioactive things:** [*Authorities Seize "Atomik" Booze Made near Chernobyl Disaster*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()