nuclear-news

Nuclear workers had to drink uranium mixture

..the special committee decided only to reprimand verbally the two researchers who initiated the study…

Inside Intel / Uranium, down the hatch Haaretz.com By Yossi Melman  14 Jan 2010 Last August, Haaretz revealed that workers at the Dimona nuclear reactor had been required to participate in an experiment in which they drank a certain quantity of uranium mixed with juice.

Following the publication of that report, Dr. Shaul Horev, the director general of the Atomic Energy Commission, which is in charge of the reactor, appointed a special committee of inquiry to look into the matter.

The committee submitted its findings a week ago to the AEC management. These findings include a recommendation that new and clear procedures stipulating when and how it is permissible to carry out medical experiments on workers be established.
The experiment involving the consumption of uranium was conducted in 1996, when Yitzhak Gurevich served as director of the reactor. The experiment was performed at the initiative of Dr. Zeev Karpas and Dr. Avi Lorber, who ran the facility’s analytical chemistry laboratory. After drinking the liquid, workers were required to give urine samples which were then sent for testing at the lab. The aim of the experiment was to examine how uranium is excreted through the urinary tract. ………..

The affair was exposed in the wake of a lawsuit filed by a former employee at the reactor, Julius Malick, who claimed he was forced to resign after he exposed safety flaws. Malick said he participated in the experiment because he was afraid his professional advancement would be hurt if he refused. He worked at the reactor for 13 years and is continuing his legal battle to receive appropriate compensation. …………..

the special committee decided only to reprimand verbally the two researchers who initiated the study for deviating from the procedures. Both men are still working at the reactor.

Inside Intel / Uranium, down the hatch – Haaretz – Israel News

January 14, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium