LANL workers get radiation contamination
Plutonium Facility–Work Planning: Last Thursday, a group of eight workers, with five simultaneously working in gloveboxes, experienced a contamination event while performing corrective maintenance on the trolley in the plutonium-238 area. Radiological surveys identified greater than two million disintegrations per minute (dpm) in several locations in the room and on multiple areas of the coveralls of two individuals. One of these workers also had about 500 dpm on the skin. Overall, three workers started special bioassay. The continuous air monitor alarmed about 1.5 hours into the event; however, its filters and those of other fixed air samplers revealed only low levels of airborne contamination. Management conducted a fact-finding for this event on Monday where follow-up actions revealed a V-shaped tear about the size of a quarter in one of the gloves; however, potential causes of the tear remain undetermined. Other points discussed include the need for extra monitoring equipment, reinforcement of surveying following glove exit, and a request for continuous presence of a radiological control technician (RCT) during complicated trolley jobs.
http://www.dnfsb.gov/sites/default/files/Board%20Activities/Reports/Site%20Rep%20Weekly%20Reports/Los%20Alamos%20National%20Laboratory/2014/wr_20141226_65.pdf
18 comments:
Due to the continuous quality improvement program that Mcmillan has in place at LANL, this was a smaller contamination than the one from LANCE recently. Nice work, and certainly worth a bonus.
Leave it to LANL to find a way to contaminate workers in a facility that has been under a work stoppage for over a year. Just one more reason to leave the ship before the crash.
Another FUBAR. Hecka of job LANS, hecka of job!
The beauty of this contamination incident is that I work at TA-55 in the gloveboxes and didn't hear thing about. Did I hear "cover-up"!
Someone else may recall the date, but torn and punctured gloves were declared by LANL to no longer be a concern at TA-55. Seems that there was a DoE Office of Enforcement action against LANL as a result of contamination from the event around 2008. Could this be a reason for the lack of communication now?
First, PU-238 ops have been resumed for over a year and are not subject to readiness like 239. If you actually read the DNFSB report, there was a fact finding or critique on the event. How can there be a "cover up" when a formal critique wAs held and the DNFSB site reps wrote about it in their monthly report?
First, PU-238 ops have been resumed for over a year and are not subject to readiness like 239. If you actually read the DNFSB report, there was a fact finding or critique on the event. How can there be a "cover up" when a formal critique wAs held and the DNFSB site reps wrote about it in their monthly report?
February 3, 2015 at 2:22 PM
Geez, really, do we (LANL TA-55 employees) need to learn about this event through the DNFSB? There was no mention of it by LANS management at TA-55.
Who says the DNFSB has no value? DNFSB - The ONLY Source of Information for Employees of LANS.
February 3, 2015 at 2:22 PM
If YOU actually read the DNFSB report, then you would know that it was not a monthly report. It is starting to smell like a cover up, and stinking more by the week.
It's not a cover up. I work in the facility and knew all about it. Read the lessons learned that come out. Is management supposed to announce to the workforce every time there is an event in the plant? Give me a break! And I did read their report or status or updates or whatever you want to call it.
Radiation is good for you, that is what old guys in Los Alamos tell you all the time. There are stories about guys that have plutonium shards in their fingers who are in their 80s. Eat your Wheaties you pussies!
Look over there! It's a squirrel!
"I work in the facility and knew all about it. Read the lessons learned that come out. Is management supposed to announce to the workforce every time there is an event in the plant?"
Every time there is an exposure to someone working in the gloveboxes, then all the glovebox workers should be informed. No exceptions.
More of Scooby's stealth deletion.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
More of Scooby's stealth deletion.
February 6, 2015 at 9:07 PM
Hey idiot try hitting I'm not a robot box next time. Maybe it should say I'm not an idiot, but I guess you could not click that and be honest at the same time.
Saw it posted, came back to see it again, then it disappeared. Not everyone is as stupid as you think they are. Psychologists call it "displacement."
"Saw it posted, came back to see it again, then it disappeared. "
Maybe you cannot admit you are an idiot so think you saw it. Psychologists call it "denial."
Arrogance is always the winner. Congratulations!
Scooby picks and chooses what goes said and unsaid on this blog. While that is his prerogative, it doesn't help us have an unbiased discussion.
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