AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

In a lengthy report recently received by AAAS, Mexican physicist Dr. Bernardo Salas claims that he was fired from his job at the Central Laguna Verde of the Federal Electrical Commission on 21 May 1996 for speaking out about dangerous conditions at the nuclear power station. A number of plant workers, who were among hundreds dismissed without compensation last year, have now contributed their own testimony about the dangerous conditions at Laguna Verde.

Dr. Salas worked for eleven years at Laguna Verde , where he coordinated the radiological protection team. Although he supports the use of nuclear power, he exposed irregularities at the plant and was reportedly dismissed from his position for speaking out about transgressions there.

The irregularities identified by Dr. Salas include the diversion of public funds, negligence in carrying out safety procedures for handling and storing radioactive material, and the abuse of authority. According to Dr. Salas these include

• burning of radioactive material in the open air;
• secret burning of radioactive oil on the beach near the power plant;
• failure to implement the internal emergency plan during a serious incident in 1993;
• manipulation of the radioactivity counter used to monitor the contamination of workers (the device was never tested when it was installed and it did not work);
• manipulation of the computerized worker contamination counter used to measure total exposure of workers. This may have led to the death from cancer of a number of workers;
• poor installation of a monitor to measure radioactivity in the area, putting at risk those who worked near the facility;
• incorrect calibration of monitors to measure individual contamination;
• purchase of low quality equipment instead of that reflected in purchase orders;
• purchase of defective radioactivity detectors, despite their removal from the market by the company that manufactures them;
• incorrect classification of radioactive waste products, which were then moved without adequate protection; and
• leakage of System Stand-by Liquid Control (SLC), which led to levels of contamination of workers in two months equal to what they would normally be exposed to in two years.

Dr. Salas reportedly brought each of these complaints to the attention of his superiors, each time going to a higher level of authority. According to Dr. Salas, the management's response to his observations and suggestions included gradual demotions reducing his responsibility as Radioactive Protection Engineer; withdrawal of financial incentives and opportunity to work overtime; isolation from his colleagues; and his assignment to work without necessary equipment in a building near the beach where radioactive waste was stored.

The actions taken against Dr. Salas by plant administrators, including a public accusation by his former employers that he was mentally ill, led him to write to the Regional Coordinator of the Electrical Worker's Union in Mexico (SUTERM), as well as to local and international bodies, such as the International Labor Organization, to which he has received no reply.

Although plant management has addressed some of Dr. Salas's concerns, they reportedly offered him back pay in exchange for renouncing his statements implicating plant operations. Dr. Salas refused the offer on the grounds of his professional ethics.

(Sources of information on this case include Dr. Bernardo Salas and journalist Phil Gunson.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telexes, telegrams, faxes, or airmail letters:

• calling for a technical and administrative audit of the Laguna Verde facility by an impartial, international body, and that the results of the investigation be made public;
• urging plant administrators and local authorities to reevaluate Dr. Salas's claim of unjust termination of employment;
• requesting that Dr. Salas be reinstated to his original position as Radioactive Protection Engineer or given a position at the plant of equal responsibility until the investigations are completed;
• calling on plant administrators to provide Dr. Salas with back-pay if it is determined by independent investigators that Dr. Salas was unjustly fired; and
• asking Laguna Verde officials to respond to Dr. Salas's allegations and provide an explanation for his dismissal.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

President Ernesto Zedillo
Presidencia de la República
Palacio Nacional
Centro
México, D.F.
At'n: Lic. Leonor Ortíz Monasterio
Coordinadora de Atención Ciudadana
Referencia: Folio-199224-31


Lic. José Elias Najjar
Presidente de la Junta Federal de Conciliación y A
Sebastian Camacho # 16, Centro
Xalapa, Ver
Referencia: Expediente 336/96
At'n: Lic. Augusto Aguirre Domínguez
Secretario de Acuerdos del Tribunal Colegiado en
Materia Administrativa y del Trabajo del Séptimo Circuito


Dip. Jorge Alejandro Jiménez Taboa
Presidente de la Comisión de Ecología y
Medio Ambiente de la Cámara de
Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión
Av. Congreso de la Unión s/n
Col. El Parque,
C.P. 15960, México, D.F.


Ing. José Francisco Torres Ramírez
Central Nucleoélectrica de Laguna Verde
Km. 43.5 Carretera Cardel- Nautla
C.P. 91680 Cardel, Ver

COPIES SENT TO:

Dip. Laura Itzel Castillo Juárez
Partido de la Revolución Democrática
Av. Congreso de la Unión s/n
Col. El Parque,
C.P. 15960, México, D.F.


C. Ministro José Vicente Aguinaco Alemán
Presidente de la H. Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación
Pino Suarez # 2
Centro
México, D.F.
Referencia; Folio- 199224-31


Organización Internacional del Trabajo
Guillermo Prieto 94
C.P. 06470
México, D.F.


Ing. Miguel Medina Vaillard
Director General de la Comisión Nacional
de Seguridad Nuclear y Salvaguardias
Dr. Barragán # 779
Col. Narvarte
03020, México, D.F.


Ing Rogelio Gasca Neri
Director de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad
Río Ródano 14
Col. Cuauhtemoc
C.P. 06598
México, D.F.

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