Times Past: December 21, 1979

The Canberra Times reported that an unknown number of phials containing radioactive material had accidentally been dumped at the Kambah tip, which had afterwards gone missing and were unable to be located.

The waste, which came from Woden Valley Hospital, had been dumped as a result of a breakdown in the normal procedure for its disposal.

Typically, the materials would be stored at the hospital until their potency was reduced.

The hospital driver would then take the materials to Long Gully tip, contact the bulldozer driver at the tip, and the material would immediately be buried once dumped.

In this instance, a temporary driver had been in charge of dumping the waste but had not been briefed, and dumped the material at the Kambah tip.

The Canberra Times article said that it might have been children who removed the phials from the tip.

If that was the case, the children would not be at risk of any harm unless the contents of the phials were swallowed.

So, until the phials were located, it was best to hope that if the children had picked them up, they hadn't felt the need to taste what was inside.

See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/12395375