- BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese
nuclear scientist has been given a suspended death sentence for planting
radioactive materials in the office of a business rival, sickening the
man and 74 other people, official newspapers reported Monday.
-
- Nuclear medicine researcher Gu Jiming stashed a case
containing pellets of iridium 192 above ceiling panels at a hospital in
the southern city of Guangzhou, the Beijing Evening News reported.
-
- Soon after the victim - identified only by his surname,
Liu - began complaining of fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches and vomiting,
the paper said.
-
- A medical checkup two months later revealed serious irregularities
in his white blood cell count. At that point his office was searched with
detection equipment and the radioactive materials discovered.
-
- Others at the hospital also complained of fatigue, memory
loss, bleeding gums and other symptoms, the report said. A nurse who was
five months pregnant nearly suffered a miscarriage because of the radiation
exposure, it said.
-
- Gu's research institute and Liu's hospital had cooperated
in forming a laser treatment center in 1997, but the two men had feuded
over management, bonuses, economic benefits and other matters.
-
- "Gu held hatred for Liu in his heart, and lay in
wait for a chance at revenge," the Beijing Evening News report said.
-
- Suspended death sentences are usually commuted to life
in prison after two years of good behavior. Gu's assistant, Fang Zhenhua,
who had only a primary school education, was also sentenced to 15 years
for helping Gu transport and place the iridium.
-
- Gu obtained the substance by falsifying documents to
buy an industrial machine that uses iridium 192 to check welded joints,
the paper said.
-
- Scientists say iridium could be used to create a radiological
"dirty bomb," and its possession is usually tightly controlled.
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