Excerpts: Cairo nuclear leaks revealed 7 June 2011

+++SOURCE: Almasryalyoum at Egypt Daily News 7 June ’11:”Former official
confirms leak at [Cairo] nuclear reactor”, Hisham Omar Abdel Halim
SUBJECT: Cairo nuclear leaks revealed
QUOTE:”leakage took place …as a result of operating the reactor without
taking into account safety precautions”
FULL TEXT:The Anshas nuclear reactor, located on the outskirts of Cairo, has
leaked ten cubic meters of radioactive water for the second time in a year,
according to Samer Mekheimar, the former director of the Nuclear Research
Center’s atomic reactions department.

Mekheimar submitted a note to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,
saying the leakage took place on 25 May as a result of operating the reactor
without taking into account safety precautions.

He also said the Atomic Energy Agency kept the incident secret and
threatened to fire the staff if they talked about it.

“The fact that the reactor was by mere chance not operated the next day
saved the area from environmental disaster,” he wrote.

“All ministries were changed after the revolution, except the Ministry of
Electricity and Energy,” he added. “It still kept the same minister and his
deputies from the dissolved ruling party.”

Meanwhile, sources at the Nuclear Safety Authority said they were denied
entry to the reactor to conduct an inspection.

Director of the Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed al-Kolaly, said that levels of
radiation inside the reactor are normal, and that the International Atomic
Energy Agency has praised the reactor.

Translated from the Arabic Edition
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA