As the whereabouts of the radioactive wastes leaked from the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute are still unknown, civic groups are increasingly concerned about the health of the people. The Nuclear Safety Commission said on the 9th that it is currently investigating the whereabouts of gold, copper wire and lead waste that have been allegedly stolen and sold by former and incumbent nuclear researchers.
According to the original proposal, about five tons of copper wire generated during the dismantling of the uranium conversion facility at the Daejeon Atomic Energy Research Institute was illegally sold to recycling companies around 2009.
Prior to that, about 2.4 to 5 kilograms of packing gold material that were installed at corresponding facilities for maintenance of process temperature were also lost around 2006. It has been revealed that the radioactive wastes stored at government-funded research institutes were illegally leaked after the dismantling of the Seoul Research Reactor.
In addition, it has been confirmed that the lead used for radiation shielding has decreased from the original amount since the ‘TRIGA mark 3’ in Gongneung-dong Research Reactor in Seoul was dismantled from 2000 to 2014. Radioactive wastes that have not been identified so far include 17 tons of lead for shielding, 9 tons of lead brick waste, and 8 tons of lead material containers.
The report also revealed that the waste materials generated by the Nuclear Energy Research Institute’s remodeling of its nuclear fuel fabrication test facility in 2010 were poorly managed. The person in charge illegally stored the waste in the facility warehouse and prepared a false report as if the waste had been disposed of.
The whereabouts of two of the 39 drums containing the coolant waste from the Seoul Research Reactor that were moved to the Daejeon Atomic Energy Institute are also unclear. At the end of January, the committee conducted an investigation after receiving a report that an official of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute had stolen and disposed of lead waste generated during the dismantling of research reactors.
The Nuclear Energy Research Institute said that, “The waste that has been suspected of poor management is low-level or internal waste,” further stating that there is no radiation risk and is also harmless to the human body. However, civic groups pointed out that, “unauthorized radioactive wastes themselves pose a risk and cannot be said to have no risk of exposure at all.”
In fact, in Taiwan, 79 building made of reinforcing steel bars contaminated with nuclear materials were found in 1995, and in the United States, tumors were found in the hands of men wearing a gold ring contaminated with radioactivity.
In 2011, radiation doses exceeded the standard level in the asphalt road in Nowon, Seould, and a nuclear fission material, “Celsium137,” was also detected.
In April of last year, the Atomic Energy Research Institute revealed that the radioactive waste was discarded and incinerated 36 times in the past three years, including the use of concrete used for radioactivity abatement experiments in ordinary concrete wastes.
