35-year-old Hisashi Ouchi became the world’s most radioactive man. (Image-Twitter)
Being exposed to anything more than 5 sieverts of radiation is fatal. Hisashi Ouchi was exposed to about 17 sieverts and was kept alive for 83 days.
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In a freak nuclear accident that took place in September 1999, a man was introduced to the highest level of radioactive material. Hisashi Ouchi was at the nuclear power plant in Tokaimura, Japan on September 30, 1999, when the accident happened. Back then, there was a lack of safety measures and an abundance of pressure to meet a deadline. The Japan Nuclear Fuel Conversion Co. (JCO) told Hisashi and two other workers to work on mixing a new batch of fuel. An attempted shortcut resulted in a disaster at a uranium processing plant, leaving forty-nine people exposed to radiation. Of these, two had been subjected to a lethal dose, one of them was Hisashi.
Hisashi Ouchi and his co-workers were supposed to purify reactor fuel. As protocol directed, they were supposed to use an automatic pump to mix up to 2.4 kilograms of enriched uranium with nitric acid. They opted for a shortcut instead. Using a stainless-steel bucket, Hisashi and his co-workers mixed 16 kilograms of the fissile material, reported the National Library of Medicine. The uranium reached a critical mass in the early hours of September 30, 1999. It proceeded to set off an uncontrolled chain reaction that workers were only able to halt after 18 hours. By then, the damage was done.
The 16 kilograms of uranium that was overloaded was seven times the approved amount for the procedure. It was not just the workers in the nuclear plant that suffered the consequences of this misjudgment. More than 60 people, including three rescue workers and seven golfers on a neighbouring course, were exposed to high radiation levels. But the most critically ill was Hisashi Ouchi, who was 35 at the time. For reference, normal background radiation produces a dose of about 2 to 4 millisieverts annually. Anything more than 5 sieverts is fatal. Hisashi was exposed to about 17 sieverts of radiation, Science journal quoted the Science and Technology Agency’s National Institute of Radiological Sciences.
Hisashi Ouchi and his co-workers collapsed with nausea. They were rescued by other co-workers and taken to a local hospital by emergency services. It was found that the radiation destroyed Hisashi’s lymphatic cells, leaving him with a near-zero white blood cell count, radiation burns across his whole body, and severe damage to his internal organs. Hisashi was scheduled to receive blood stem cells, donated by his brother. This was the first-ever procedure to be attempted for radiation victims. For eight-three days, Hisashi was kept alive despite being nearly lifeless. He later passed away from multiple organ failure.
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first published:February 03, 2023, 10:30 IST
last updated:February 03, 2023, 10:40 IST
