Nuclear reactor worker wins NIS one million cancer compensation

'G,' a 78-year-old pensioner from Beersheba, claimed to have been continually exposed to hazardous materials and radioactive radiation at the Dimona nuclear reactor.

View of the Israeli nuclear facility in the Negev Desert outside Dimona  (photo credit: JIM HOLLANDER / POOL / REUTERS)
View of the Israeli nuclear facility in the Negev Desert outside Dimona
(photo credit: JIM HOLLANDER / POOL / REUTERS)

A Dimona nuclear reactor technician, who twice contracted cancer since his retirement, will be compensated in the sum of over NIS one million, N12 reported on Sunday.

'G,' a 78-year-old pensioner from Beersheba, worked as a chemistry technician at the Dimona nuclear reactor for 32 years before retiring in 2003.

The retired technician claimed to have been continually exposed to hazardous materials and radioactive radiation, which caused him to develop five cancerous tumors which were surgically removed, as well as battling bladder and prostate cancer.

He also claimed that there was no proper supervision and no means of radiation protection given to him during his time working in the reactor.

"I went through a troubling period in my life. I couldn't believe my job would bring me to this situation," he reportedly noted in a claim filed to social security.

A geiger counter measures a radiation level at a site of fire burning in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, outside the village of Rahivka, Ukraine April 5, 2020. (credit: YAROSLAV YEMELIANENKO/REUTERS)
A geiger counter measures a radiation level at a site of fire burning in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, outside the village of Rahivka, Ukraine April 5, 2020. (credit: YAROSLAV YEMELIANENKO/REUTERS)

In addition to the NIS one million compensation, 'G' is also set to receive a monthly payment of more than NIS 10,000 for the remainder of his life.

"There was no awareness to these hazardous materials back in the 1960s, who would have believed this is where it would go," 'G' said, according to N12.

"After all I have been through, the only consolation is that I can at least live the time I have left with dignity."

Officially the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, the Dimona reactor has been operational since 1958.