Re: US Energy Dep't cites nuclear lab over safety

[William V Lipton <liptonw@dteenergy.com>]

This is just one more indication that DOE facilities should be subject to NRC
regulation; or, as a minimum, to some equivalent  3rd party regulation.  They should
NOT be exempt from fines.

The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose, it's about trust.

Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com

Sandy Perle wrote:

> 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."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Sandy Perle                                     Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100
> Director, Technical                             Extension 2306
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