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Panel will look into leak of radioactive material at LANL
A breached plutonium glove box last month at Los Alamos National Laboratory released airborne radioactive material that was more than double the yearly limit for a work area, prompting the formation of an investigative panel, according to a government watchdog’s report. The National Nuclear Security Agency, an Energy Department branch, formed an accident investigation board to look into the Jan. 7 incident that contaminated as many as four workers, with one undergoing treatment at the lab’s outpatient clinic. Agency guidelines call for creating the investigative panel if electronic monitors detect double or more the yearly limit for airborne contamination in a work area. This leak occurred in a sealed compartment, which has attached gloves so workers can handle radioactive material. An employee noticed the breach after working with a container of legacy waste in the glove box — and soon after the alarms sounded, prompting the six-person crew to evacuate, according to a report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Radiological control technicians identified contamination on two workers’ faces, heads and protective gear, and then decontaminated them, the report said. Nose swabs indicated one of these workers and two others who were in the room might have breathed in airborne contaminants, the report said. An incident report said the one with the highest reading went to the clinic and was given chelation therapy, a method that cleanses heavy metals from the body and is used in some cases of radiation exposure. A lab spokesman on Monday issued a statement similar to one released last month after the incident occurred. “Preliminary results from evaluation of the affected employee indicate that exposures are within known safety limits,” spokesman Peter Hyde wrote. “Based on initial indicators, long term health effects are not anticipated in this case.” He added the workers’ health is being monitored according to lab policy. The safety board report indicated the investigation was triggered by the contamination the air monitors detected, and it’s unknown what the workers’ actual exposure was because the final test results are still pending. This is the lab’s third reported glove box breach in the past two years. One of the more serious incidents happened in June 2020. Fifteen employees had to be tested after a worker tore a glove and released radiation into the room. The worker who ripped the glove was the only one who tested positive for radioactive contamination. Watchdog groups contend these kinds of mishaps are likely to occur more often as the lab gears up to produce 30 plutonium pits for warhead triggers by 2026. Lab employees will be handling more radioactive material, both to produce the pits and prepare waste for disposal — increasing the odds of more accidents, they say. Hyde indicated the radiation was contained, and the workers responded promptly as trained. “There was no risk to public health and safety or the environment,” he wrote. |
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