US Energy Dep't cites nuclear lab over safety

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

US Energy Dep't cites nuclear lab over safety
  
WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy on 
Wednesday said it had cited the University of California for nuclear 
safety violations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory but imposed 
no monetary penalty. 

The violations stemmed from a March 2000 event in which eight 
government workers were exposed to airborne plutonium at the nation's 
premiere nuclear laboratory, which has been rocked by security 
scandals over the past two years. 

The department's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) 
issued the preliminary notice of violation on Jan. 19, a day after 
the government renewed for three years the University of California's 
contract to keep running the laboratory. 

The contract renewal has prompted pointed questions by Rep. Billy 
Tauzin, chairman of the House Energy Committee, who had been urging 
the department to delay signing the contract until Congress and the 
new administration has been fully briefed. 

A DOE spokeswoman said the notice of violation would have no affect 
on the contract renewal, although the NNSA had emphasized the need 
for "increased attention" to safety issues while it was negotiating 
the contract with the university. 

"Those are separate issues, and the contract has been signed," she 
said. 

"The NNSA as it was negotiating on the extension of the contract took 
steps to ensure that there would be increased attention to the 
importance of safety issues during the duration of contract," she 
said. 

Among the lab's recent security problems was the case of former 
scientist Wen Ho Lee, who pleaded guilty to downloading nuclear 
secrets onto an unclassified computer, and the disappearance of two 
computer hard drives containing nuclear secrets, which later turned 
up behind a copy machine. 

COULD HAVE FACED FINE OF $605,000 

The department said the lab was exempt from civil penalties under 
federal law, but if it was not it would have faced a civil penalty of 
$605,000, based on the significance of the events. 

In addition to the March 2000 incident, the preliminary notice of 
violation also listed several events at the laboratory in which 
nuclear facilities were operated outside the limits and controls set 
by facility safety documents. 

"Our goal is to avoid such incidents by being proactive and making 
safety an integral part of every operation," said John Gordon, 
administrator of the NNSA, who issued the notice of violation to the 
university. 

Tauzin this week asked Gordon for more information about the 
preliminary notice of violation, and a spokesman said the infractions 
included one worker being exposed to radiation 18 times higher than 
the dose not to be exceeded in one year. 

In its statement on Wednesday, DOE conceded up to three workers may 
have received exposures that exceeded the annual regulatory limit set 
for this work, while one worker's exposure had been estimated at five 
times over the annual limit. 

No immediate adverse health consequences resulted from the exposure, 
the department said, and involved workers were put on temporary work 
restrictions to limit any additional exposures. 

In the citation, NNSA also mentioned problems with work controls at a 
second facility where Los Alamos perform experiments, saying they 
"represented an unacceptable trend in the operation and maintenance 
of nuclear facilities." 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
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Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
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