July 2001

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Federal Minister for Environment request report from the atomic safety authority of Bade-Wurtemburg

Translation WISE-Paris, 18 July 2001

[Posted 19/07/2001]

Press Statement from Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety.

No. 143/01

Berlin, 15 July 2001

The Federal Minister for Environment, Mr Jürgen Tritten, has requested a written report from the nuclear safety authority of Bade-Wurtemburg, by Monday, on the case of a worker at the shut-down Karlsruhe reprocessing plant who was contaminated by plutonium, a highly dangerous substance.

Mr Tritten declared that,

“if the suspicion of misappropriation of radioactive material in a German atomic plant is confirmed, we can suppose that there are serious flaws in the safety system of that installation.
Where are we heading if we cannot totally exclude the possibly of employees in atomic plants misappropriating highly dangerous radioactive substances and thus endangering others?
I expect the government of the Bade-Wurtemburg Land, competent in this area, to provide a full explanation of this serious incident. We want to know how this happened, who is responsible and what are the possible consequences.
As soon as I have this report, I may well consider asking the Commission for Reactor Safety (RSK) and the Commission for Radiological Protection (SSK) for an analysis of this incident.”

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