Post by Ex_Nuke_Troop on Mar 11, 2014 15:49:05 GMT
Current-Argus : DOE: Four more WIPP employees exposed to radiation
By Zack Ponce
zponce@currentargus.com @zackponce12 on Twitter
Posted: 03/10/2014 12:31:11 PM MDT
Four more employees at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant have tested positive for elevated levels of radiation over the weekend.
The Department of Energy announced that fecal samples taken from employees at the nuclear waste facility found 17 workers tested positive for low levels of radiation. After initial testing more than a week ago, the DOE reported 13 workers tested positive for trace amounts americium and plutonium. All exposed employees were found with levels of radiation just over the regular occurring amounts found in the environment, the DOE said.
Despite the positive results, no detectable traces of radiation were found in the employees' urine samples, indicating that no detectable contamination was passed through the blood stream and through the lungs, but the DOE does not expect the employees to experience any adverse health effects from the exposure.
Also over the weekend, the Nuclear Waste Project lowered instruments below ground at WIPP into the salt handling and air intake shafts to check for airborne radioactivity and to determine air quality in areas the scientists believed were not contaminated. No traces of radioactive particles were found.
Also over the weekend, the Nuclear Waste Project lowered instruments below ground at WIPP into the salt handling and air intake shafts to check for airborne radioactivity and to determine air quality in areas the scientists believed were not contaminated. No traces of radioactive particles were found.
"This process is critical in helping determine the proper personal protective equipment needed for our personnel entries," said Tammy Reynolds, WIPP Recovery Process Manager for NWP. "We will do a final analysis of these samples before we send anyone down. The safety of our employees is foremost during this process."
NWP hopes to send a human below ground to assess the situation by the end of this week. Inspectors will review both the salt handling and air intake shafts, and if all of the inspections go well, more workers will be allowed to re-enter the underground some time in the next few weeks, according to a news release. A series of follow-up visits to the mine are required to review the mine's stability. Officials also hope to find the source of the radiation leak. Radioactive particles were first detected underground at WIPP on Feb. 14 and traces of americium and plutonium were later found up to a half mile outside of the facility on Feb. 19.
WIPP opened in 1999 and disposes transuranic waste, commonly referred to as "TRU," into the Permian-age salt bedrock 2,150 feet below ground. Most of the waste WIPP receives is primarily low-level, solid materials such as discarded tools and cloths used in the manufacturing of Cold War-era nuclear weapons.
www.currentargus.com/carlsbad-news/ci_25312731/doe-four-more-wipp-employees-exposed-radiation
By Zack Ponce
zponce@currentargus.com @zackponce12 on Twitter
Posted: 03/10/2014 12:31:11 PM MDT
Four more employees at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant have tested positive for elevated levels of radiation over the weekend.
The Department of Energy announced that fecal samples taken from employees at the nuclear waste facility found 17 workers tested positive for low levels of radiation. After initial testing more than a week ago, the DOE reported 13 workers tested positive for trace amounts americium and plutonium. All exposed employees were found with levels of radiation just over the regular occurring amounts found in the environment, the DOE said.
Despite the positive results, no detectable traces of radiation were found in the employees' urine samples, indicating that no detectable contamination was passed through the blood stream and through the lungs, but the DOE does not expect the employees to experience any adverse health effects from the exposure.
Also over the weekend, the Nuclear Waste Project lowered instruments below ground at WIPP into the salt handling and air intake shafts to check for airborne radioactivity and to determine air quality in areas the scientists believed were not contaminated. No traces of radioactive particles were found.
Also over the weekend, the Nuclear Waste Project lowered instruments below ground at WIPP into the salt handling and air intake shafts to check for airborne radioactivity and to determine air quality in areas the scientists believed were not contaminated. No traces of radioactive particles were found.
"This process is critical in helping determine the proper personal protective equipment needed for our personnel entries," said Tammy Reynolds, WIPP Recovery Process Manager for NWP. "We will do a final analysis of these samples before we send anyone down. The safety of our employees is foremost during this process."
NWP hopes to send a human below ground to assess the situation by the end of this week. Inspectors will review both the salt handling and air intake shafts, and if all of the inspections go well, more workers will be allowed to re-enter the underground some time in the next few weeks, according to a news release. A series of follow-up visits to the mine are required to review the mine's stability. Officials also hope to find the source of the radiation leak. Radioactive particles were first detected underground at WIPP on Feb. 14 and traces of americium and plutonium were later found up to a half mile outside of the facility on Feb. 19.
WIPP opened in 1999 and disposes transuranic waste, commonly referred to as "TRU," into the Permian-age salt bedrock 2,150 feet below ground. Most of the waste WIPP receives is primarily low-level, solid materials such as discarded tools and cloths used in the manufacturing of Cold War-era nuclear weapons.
www.currentargus.com/carlsbad-news/ci_25312731/doe-four-more-wipp-employees-exposed-radiation