Archive:Gësukën irradiation incident
The Gësukën irradiation incident /'gɛsukɛn/ was a irradiation accident at the Seven Exports Corporation Packing and Irradiation Facility two miles north of Gësukën, Tynda, Yaxarhayut in 1994. The incident occurred when operators overrode and bypassed security interlocks, entering a room containing a set of radioactive sources used for the sanitation of produce that was not in a safe position. Two operators received lethal doses of radiation, and a third was hospitalized.
Background
The SEC Packing and Irradiation Facility, typically processing yadyavyauthar and londyan amongst other products for export, had been built in 1982. The plant had been poorly maintained, and several procedures had become shortened by operators over the years. Specifically, the procedures for entering the room containing the radioactive sources had become shortcut. Operators were required to ensure the rack with the sources was indicated fully descended and the motor system which raised it entirely deenergized, which itself should have caused the rack to fall into the shielding pool as part of a safety mechanism. Further, radiation readings within the room were supposed to read on the instrumentation as no higher than 0,1 μSv/h greater than background. A combination of these two things were required for the panel controlling the locks on the door to allow the keys to unlock the room. This procedure had been bypassed entirely by the discovery that if one turned the key in the door while also rapidly, sequentially depressing the buttons on the panel, the system would error and unlock the door.
Incident
On the morning of 12 June 1994, at 4:22am, the tray containing the radioactive point sources used in the sanitation of the produce was jostled by a heavy, out-of-position box on the conveyer, causing it to catch on the belt and to jam the next box, causing a pile up and for several boxes to drop to the floor. The main operator on duty, Hëš Ämÿg noticed the jam by way of an error light indicator on his display. He retrieved the other operator on duty, Danyl Heorómû and off-going operator Äng ösÞaluväřg to help clean up the boxes. They did not deenergize the motor device, merely depressing the rack down button until the rack indicated fully down. The rack, jammed, did not descend with the rest of the device, instead remaining exposed. They then ignored the high radiation readings in the room, taking advantage of the known bypass of the security features of the door to enter the room. The men then passed through the maze and entered the main chamber, where they began replacing the boxes on the belt. Hëš Ämÿg, upon finding the jammed box, shoved it, which shook the source rack off the back corner where it had been stuck. The operators heard the splash as the rack abruptly descended and crashed into the water below. Danyl Heorómû and Äng ösÞaluväřg both then saw a bright blue glow emerge from the water. Realizing the danger they were in, all three men exited the room. At 4:50am, operations were resumed, though some of the boxes remained on the floor of the sanitation room. Äng ösÞaluväřg then went home, only to vomit several times around six in the morning, finally reporting to a local doctor just after noon when signs of radiation burns began to develop on his chest and arms. He initially lied about the cause of the injuries, instead saying he had fallen onto a fire while burning leaves. He then returned home. Danyl Heorómû and Hëš Ämÿg then continued their shift, with Danyl eventually going home early when he vomited several times and began to develop a headache and a feeling of weakness. Danyl remained at home for several days before finally, on 15 June reporting to the same local doctor, who, noticing the similarity between Danyl and Äng's conditions, questioned Danyl extensively. Danyl related the actual cause of the injuries, and was rushed to the main hospital in Tynda, where he was diagnosed with Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) and then flown to the King Vinnrat V Hospital in Yitsma to receive specialist care. The doctor then called Äng, who admitted to having lied and was sent, likewise, to Yitsma. Hëš Ämÿg continued to work his shifts, though he became progressively weaker as the week drew on. He was admitted to the hospital in Tynda on 21 June after collapsing at the facility.
Aftermath
Äng ösÞaluväřg's condition would continue to decline for the next week. His left arm and right hand were amputated after they developed necrosis on 17 June, and his left leg was removed on the 18th. His white blood cell counted decreased drastically, and he slipped into a coma on the 20th. On 22 June, just before eight in the afternoon, Äng ösÞaluväřg would pass away, having received an estimated whole body dose of 6 Gy. His remains were carefully cremated, and the ashes were placed in a thick lead box, which was buried outside his village of Thaluvarg, Terenarth. Similarly, Danyl Heorómû survived until the 23rd, undergoing multiple surgeries, when he passed away just after one pm, having received an estimated whole body dose of 4,5 Gy. His remains became a point of international contention, as Danyl Heorómû was a dual citizen of Yaxarhayut and Heoroma, with the Heoroman government demanding that his corpse be handed over to them to be buried. His body would stay in a lead box in the King Vinnrat V Hospital basement until 2002, when a deal was struck between the two governments allowing him to be buried in northern Yitsma Duchy. Hëš Ämÿg would remain in hospital for another year and a half, undergoing many surgeries himself and losing both his right arm and the fingers of his left hand to necrosis. He was discharged on 21 January 1996, having received an estimated whole body dose of 3 Gy. He died of cancer of the lungs on 18 May 2000.