JERUSALEM (JTA) — An independent committee will investigate a report that Dimona nuclear reactor employees drank uranium as part of an experiment.
The director of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission appointed the committee following a report Monday by the Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz that the experiment was conducted in 1998, according to a former worker who filed a lawsuit in the Beersheba Labor Court. The lawsuit claims that the workers’ consent for the experiment was not obtained in writing, and that they were not warned of the possible side effects.
Employee Julius Malick, who retired in 2008 after 15 years at the facility, filed the lawsuit, which asks for about $472,000 in compensation. He claims in the suit that he took part in the experiment "out of fear for his livelihood and future in the department." The lawsuit says he retired last year because he was threatened that if he did not retire he would be fired.
The Israel Atomic Energy Commission said in a statement that the Dimona facility "has the safety and health of its workers as its highest priority," Ha’aretz reported.
The statement also said that the 100 micrograms of uranium the Dimona staffers drank in the experiment was less than the amount Beersheba residents drink from their taps in one month.
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