韓國奮鬥發現失去的鈾

由 金Tae-gyu

韓國原子能研究所(KAERI)有困難時期搜尋2.7公斤鈾寄發到焚穢爐由事故在5月。

國立學院在8月得知嚴重錯誤。 6和形成發現引起了國際原子能組織的材料的特遣部隊(國際原子能機構)的注意。

Included in the missing material are 1.9 kilograms of natural uranium and 0.8 kilograms of depleted uranium as well as 0.2 grams of enriched uranium, which is still being investigated by the IAEA.

“Uranium doesn’t burn. So the uranium in question should remain intact at the waste dump. Our staff members will look hard for it,” a KAERI spokesman said.

“But the hitch is that the uranium was processed months ago and is smaller than the size of a golf ball. We are afraid that it may take months to find it,” he said.

This means that the KAERI may be unable to meet the request of an IAEA inspector, who visited the Daejeon-based KAERI Tuesday in order to examine the enriched uranium, to find the lost material by the end of the month.

However, KAERI does not seem overly concerned.

“We are not required to report the loss of such a tiny amount of uranium to the IAEA. But we reported the matter because it was examined by the IAEA,” the spokesman said.

“Even under the worst-case scenario _ our failure to find the uranium _ the IAEA is not expected to take serious issue with it,” he said.

The 0.2 grams of enriched uranium, which has an enrichment level of approximately 10 percent, was made in an experiment to obtain substances used for high-end medical equipment in 2000.

The material was uncovered in 2004, but KAERI argued that the low-enriched uranium had nothing to do with weapons, which use highly-enriched uranium.

However, the IAEA sent an investigation team to Korea in 2004 to check the material. In this climate, KAERI staff disposed of the uranium in error while the IAEA investigation is technically still ongoing.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr

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