Re: Newspaper Story About Soviet Pu Workers in 40's and 50's

[Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 09:51 06.06.1996 -0500, you wrote:
>
>     
>     Fellow Radsafers,
>     
>     I have just come across a May 25 newspaper clipping
>     in the Ottawa Citizen discussing the story
>     of Soviet weapons facility workers in the
>     late 40's and early 50's.
>     
>     The article says that there were very poor
>     working conditions at the plant at Dubna
>     and that a number of workers died of an
>     apparently Pu-induced pneumo-sclerosis.
>     
>     I apologize if this is old news to you
>     but I would like to know if there is more
>     information out there on this topic.
>     
>     Jim Presley
>     Health Physicist
>     AECB
>     
>     presley.j@atomcom.gc.ca
>======================================================================

Jim,

I am not an expert on Soviet nuclear weapons. As far as I know, Dubna is a
research centre (the work with accelerators and the synthesis of heavy
transuranic elements are known) and was no nuclear weapons construction
plant. Regardless whether this is true or not there were during Stalins rule
sites erected - secret towns - where plutonium was produced. One of these
sites was and is Cheljabinsk, the Mayak Complex. Working conditions must
have been really bad and they are probably not much better today, especially
when one regards the damage done to the environment, the wide spread
extremely high contamination of rivers, lakes and soil which persists even
today. Think of the Kyshtym accident! The only goal was to have "the bomb"
as soon as possible and then there was no time to think of protection. But
was that so different from the US attitude? Think of all the money it costs
to clean Hanford! Think of the Marshall Islands.

I believe that when military interests are involved there will not be much
thought on health and safety.

Franz Schoenhofer
Federal Institute for Food Control and Research
Kinderspitalg. 15
A-1095 Vienna
AUSTRIA

>
>
Christian Schoenhofer
Habichergasse 31/7
A-1160 Wien
Tel./Fax:	+43-1-4955308
Tel.:		+43-664-3380333
e-mail:		schoenho@via.at