Fears of Radiation Leak Soar After North Korea Nuclear Site Collapse Kills
200
Published on
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
by
Common Dreams
Fears of Radiation Leak Soar After North Korea Nuclear Site Collapse Kills
200
The disaster is believed to have resulted from Pyongyang's hydrogen bomb
test, which sparked earthquakes and landslides
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
North Korea nuclear site collapse
Initially, a tunnel collapsed on 100 workers, and an additional 100 went in
to rescue them, only to die themselves under the unstable mountain,"
Business Insider reports. (Photo: TV Asahi/Screengrab)
Experts are issuing urgent warnings of a possible radiation leak following
the collapse of a tunnel at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, an
accident that reportedly killed at least 200 people.
"Should [the Punggye-ri site] sink, there is a possibility" that hazardous
radioactive gas could be released into the atmosphere, warned South Korea
weather agency chief Nam Jae-cheol during a parliamentary meeting on Monday,
ahead of reports of the incident.
"With the test site compromised, hazardous radioactive material left over
from the blast may seep out, which could possibly cause an international
incident."
-Alex Lockie, Business Insider
The tunnel's collapse, first reported by the Japanese outlet TV Asahi on
Tuesday, is presumed to have occurred as a result of the destabilization
caused by Pyongyang's powerful hydrogen bomb test last month.
The Telegraph, citing South Korean news agency Yonhap, reported that the
original incident took place on Oct. 10 though it remains unclear exactly
when the secondary collapse may have occurred.
Business Insider's Alex Lockie reports that according to North Korean
sources, the tunnel initially "collapsed on 100 workers, and an additional
100 went in to rescue them, only to die themselves under the unstable
mountain."
Susan Sarandon Block
Lockie continued:
The tunnels in and out of the test site had been damaged previously, and the
workers may have been clearing or repairing the tunnels to resume nuclear
testing. Additionally, with the test site compromised, hazardous radioactive
material left over from the blast may seep out, which could possibly cause
an international incident.
If the debris from the test reaches China, Beijing would see that as an
attack on its country, Jenny Town, the assistant director of the U.S.-Korea
Institute and a managing editor at 38 North, previously told Business
Insider.
Reports of the deadly accident come on the heels of an analysis by the
Washington Post suggesting that North Korea's nuclear tests may have become
"so big that they have altered the geological structure of the land."
"Some analysts now see signs that Mount Mantap, the 7,200-foot-high peak
under which North Korea detonates its nuclear bombs, is suffering from
'tired mountain syndrome,'" the Post noted. "The mountain visibly shifted
during the last nuclear test, an enormous detonation that was recorded as a
6.3-magnitude earthquake in North Korea's northeast. Since then, the area,
which is not known for natural seismic activity, has had three more quakes."
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