At least one person has died and a hundred others have been injured after a fatal accident at a uranium enrichment plant in central Russia’s Ural Mountains, Russian media reported on Friday, as the injured were examined for radioactive contamination. Is going
The plant said on its website that “there was one victim under pressure from a cylinder containing depleted uranium hexafluoride,” although it said there was no indication of casualties. moscow times,
Uranium hexafluoride is important in the enrichment process, which creates fuel for nuclear plants and weapons.
State nuclear corporation Rosatom said radiation levels at the plant and surrounding area were normal and the incident posed no danger to people living in the area.
“We are deeply saddened to announce a tragic incident at the Ural Electrochemical Plant, which resulted in the death of an employee,” Rosatom said.
It said the worker died from “mechanical injury caused by a crack in a container containing uranium hexafluoride, a chemical compound used in uranium enrichment.”
“There is no danger of any kind to residents of the city of Novouralsk or to the plant’s employees,” said Yuri Mineyev, the plant’s deputy production manager.
The plant said it enriches uranium for use in nuclear power stations and is the largest of its kind in the world. The cause of the incident is being investigated.
The Urals Electrochemical Combine – which is based in the closed city of Novorhalsk in the Sverdlovsk region – said that “the workshop where the incident took place had been evacuated and sanitation work was underway at the site.”
It also said, “The cause of the incident is being investigated.”
The Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Investigative Committee of Russia, which investigates major crimes, launched an investigation into the case.
Nearly a dozen countries depend on Russia for more than half of their enriched uranium, according to a report by the new York Times,
