Who, between the year 2000 and the 18. June 2018, visited the Collections-Museum of the Grand Canyon national Park, came with uranium ore in contact. The wrote to the Director of Security of the Park, Elston Stephenson, in the beginning of February of this year, in an E-Mail to the employees of the Park.
for Nearly two decades, workers, tourists and school classes came, therefore, are in the Museum at three in the building kept buckets of paint, without knowing that they were exposed to radiation. At times the children would have sat during your visit about a half-hour in addition to the buckets. According to Stephenson, the buckets were already to be found for years in the basement of the building and were laid in the opening of the Museum 19 years ago in the exhibition area.
the bucket in March 2018 had been Discovered by a son of a Park employee who brought during a visit to his Geiger counter and the radiation is noted. Stephenson himself was only “a few months later” after the discovery on the bucket of a should so be full that the lid didn’t close, said the former members of the army, the newspaper “The Arizona Republic”.
Empty bucket will land back in the Museum
It had taken several days, until by him called experts have taken away the bucket after a re-inspection. The contents of the bucket had then been in a disused Mine in the vicinity of the national Park, tilted the empty container landed back in the Museum. Why, no one can answer.
images, the Stephenson, the “Republic” has provided, show the experts, the move in June 2018, the bucket with the uranium-containing Material.
According to a report by Stephenson’s to the health and safety authority inspectors in the yellow dust appeared, according to the “Republic” of the suits in the Museum. The radiation measuring devices would also be knocked out and the empty container discarded.
During the investigation, spent, in the meantime, the measured natural background radiation in the building again at a normal value, the newspaper writes.
The Park management under Stephenson that it had entered into a “secrecy Pact” and the incident was deliberately covered up, which is why he took the PR into her own hands. Stephenson turned to the staff and the “Republic” and wrote that the alleged cover-up was a failure of senior management; he also warned of possible health consequences.
According to Stephenson’s own calculations, the adults in the vicinity of the bucket 400 times and children’s 4000 to change over the safety of a radiation threshold to be have been exposed to.
The Management has now responded. During the investigations, it is working with the health and safety authorities of Arizona. Also a Hotline where concerned people can report, was planned the “Republic” writes. According to Park spokeswoman Vanessa Lacayo they wanted to identify and determine how risky the case was for the employees and tourists really.
Created: 20.02.2019, 14:29 PM
