US participation in the war between Israel and Iran increased fears related to the risk of contamination nuclear. The White House used special bombs to attack three of the major Iranian nuclear facilities this weekend.
One of the bombarded points was the underground complex of Ford. The place is considered strategic because it is designed to produce purer degrees of uranium. However, this makes the danger of leaking the material greater radioactive.
Israel wants to prevent Iran from developing nuclear bombs
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) detected damages to the installation of uranium enrichment in Natanz, the Isfahan nuclear complex and the centrifugal production centers in Karaj and Tehran.
- In Arak, the heavy water research reactor of Khondab, which was still under construction, plus a nearby plant that produced heavy water were damaged.
- The entity states that the structures were not in operation and did not contain nuclear material.
- In Ford, on the other hand, the agency said there is no information on increased radiation levels so far.
- Remembering that Israel argues to have carried out the attacks to prevent the Iranians from developing nuclear bombs, which would threaten Israeli existence.
- Tehran considered bombing as “war crimes” and assured that he does not intend to build nuclear weapons.
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Is there a risk of contamination?
Despite increasing global tensions, Gerardo Portela, a risk and safety engineer, says there is no reason for immediate concern about nuclear incidents. He explains that nuclear facilities have no atomic bombs, for example. In addition, the expert points out that there are several security systems in these spaces. Even so, this does not mean that any contamination is impossible.
Factories that produce the raw material for nuclear reactors are also considered nuclear facilities because they have materials with the potential to cause contamination or even irradiation of great potential. These are accidents that are possible because there are radioactive materials.
GERARDO PORTELA, Risk and Security Specialist Engineer
Portela also points out that there may be Iranian retaliation in order to cause nuclear incidents in Israel. An extreme situation, but which he considers worrying in terms of risk management, as he could quickly get out of control of the authorities.
Technically speaking we can say that we are in a nuclear war because nuclear facilities are being attacked by the risk of release of radioactive contaminating materials, even if nuclear weapons are not being used.
GERARDO PORTELA, Risk and Security Specialist Engineer
The expert notes that, in extreme cases, there may be contamination of objects, and that their contact with the skin may also contaminate people. At the same time, there is a risk of inspiring radioactive gases, bringing substances into the body and generating severe damage to our health.
In a more serious scenario, there could be the contamination of the atmosphere on a global scale, which would cause the radioactive elements to reach Brazil. It is important to remember, however, that there is no sign that this happened in Iran.
