An extremely small radioactive capsule has been found after a ‘needle in a haystack’ search in the Outback of Australia.

Touching it can lead to skin burns or ‘acute radiation system’ if handled over a period of time.

The capsule fell out a lorry while being transported between mines in Newman and Perth.

Authorities believe vibrations along the route had caused a bolt from the container it was being transported in to be displaced.

The capsule likely then fell through the hole and off the truck onto the dirt road.

Australian authorities say the capsule has now been found after nearly a week-long search along a 1,400 km (870-mile) stretch of highway.

The military was verifying the capsule today.

It will then be taken to a secure facility in the city of Perth on Thursday, Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said in a news conference.

‘When you consider the scope of the research area, locating this object was a monumental challenge, the search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack,’ he said.

The silver capsule, 6 mm in diameter and 8 mm long, contains Caesium-137 which emits radiation equal to 10 X-rays per hour.

Andrew Stuchbery who runs the department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications at the Australian National University, yesterday doubted the capsule would ever be found.

He had stressed it was ‘not impossible’ to locate the tiny item but that it would be a challenge.

‘That’s like if you dangled a magnet over a haystack, it’s going to give you more of a chance,’ the scientist said.

‘If the source just happened to be lying in the middle of the road you might get lucky. It’s quite radioactive so if you get close to it, it will stick out.’

‘But if you stand next to it or you handle it, it could be very dangerous.’

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