Balloon with uranium leaking
Factory worker dies in nuclear accident in Russia
07/14/2023 11:44 p.m
In Russia, an employee dies in an accident involving depleted uranium at a factory. According to the nuclear authority, others had to be sent home. There is no risk for the population, radioactivity was not released.
According to the authorities, one person died in an accident at a nuclear fuel factory in Russia’s Ural Mountains. “The incident was quickly localized and does not pose any risks to the population,” said the Rosatom nuclear authority on its Telegram channel. No radioactivity was released in the accident.
According to official information, a balloon containing about one cubic meter of depleted uranium leaked in the Ural Electrochemical Combine this morning. Accordingly, a locksmith was fatally injured in the pressure drop. The remaining employees were sent home after a medical examination. Her life and health are not at risk.
According to the press release, the depleted uranium has only about 60 percent of the radioactivity of natural uranium. The measurements did not result in increased radiation levels. An investigation into how the pressure drop in the uranium container came about has been initiated.
The Urals Electrochemical Combine is located in the closed city of Novouralsk, 50 kilometers northwest of Yekaterinburg. The factory produced the first Soviet nuclear fuel. Today it is part of the state nuclear authority Rosatom, which also has the monopoly on the construction and operation of nuclear power plants in Russia.