ORNL manager fined $55,000, lack of safety during nuclear spill

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Index:



ORNL manager fined $55,000, lack of safety during nuclear spill

Shipments of radioactive waste across Iowa rising

PEMA, DEP Officials Train Volunteer Radiation Experts

Downwinders to AG: Sue the feds

Better communication might have prevented nuclear plant mishap

---------------------------------------------------------------



ORNL manager fined $55,000, lack of safety during nuclear spill



OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) - The manager of Oak Ridge National Laboratory 

has been fined $55,000 for safety deficiencies related to a nuclear 

spill, officials said.



The Department of Energy notified ORNL director Jeff Wadsworth of the 

proposed penalty against UT-Battelle in a Nov. 18 letter, and he 

informed lab employees in a memo on Wednesday.



During the incident on Oct. 6, 2003, two workers were exposed to 

radiation at Building 2026, where nuclear materials are processed in 

shielded hot cells.



According to federal investigators, a waste drain overflowed because 

of a clogged pipeline, and proper procedures were not followed in 

responding to the problem and subsequent cleanup.



Stephen Sohinki, DOE's nuclear enforcement chief, indicated there 

wasn't enough attention paid to safety regulations at the ORNL 

facility.



"Of particular concern is the relative informality demonstrated in 

responding to the spill, the lack of desired questioning attitude 

concerning conditions found, and the apparent expediency they thought 

they needed even though the circumstances of the spill were not 

known," Sohinki wrote to Wadsworth.



The workers apparently were exposed because they rushed to mop up the 

spill before adequately assessing the conditions and didn't leave the 

area promptly despite a radiation alarm, investigators found.



"Fortunately, these exposures were not large, but they could have 

been more significant if the individuals had delayed further in 

leaving the area," Sohinki wrote.



The Energy Department, however, did praise the lab management for a 

"broad and rigorous investigation" and corrective actions to prevent 

similar problems in the future. As a result, DOE reduced the penalty 

by half.



Wadsworth said in his memo that the radiation exposures were 

unnecessary, underscoring the need for "operational discipline" at 

ORNL.



"The accident was certainly preventable," he wrote. "If you see a 

potential hazard in your workplace, please report it to your 

supervision."



In August, a small chemical spill caused hundreds of employees to 

evacuate four buildings at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.



A lab technician dropped a beaker containing about 100 milliliters, 

or less than half a cup, of a chemical commonly used to provide the 

odor to natural gas, officials said.



Fumes from the spill traveled into the ventilation system and 

prompted the evacuation as a precaution. No one was harmed by the 

spill.



The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is DOE's largest science and energy 

laboratory employing some 3,800 people.

-----------------



Shipments of radioactive waste across Iowa rising



DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Nuclear waste shipments across Iowa increased 

in the year that ended June 30, a 21 percent increase from the 

previous year, according a state public health report.



The report showed there were 490 shipments of radioactive waste, 

hauled by truck and train. That compares to 406 in the previous 12-

month period, the report showed.



The shipments, headed for repositories in Western states, crossed the 

state safely, officials said.



"We hope we have enough safety processes in place," said Kevin Teale, 

health department spokesman. "The rail and truck companies are well 

aware of what they're doing, and they go that extra mile for safety."



Critics say the shipments of radioactive material is dangerous.



"I didn't realize we were already into these kinds of numbers for 

high-level shipments," said Jane Magers of Earth Care Inc., a Des 

Moines environmental group. "We're not talking about sandboxes here. 

We're talking about toxic materials. For someone to say all these 

shipments are safe is ludicrous."



Of the 490 shipments in the latest year, eight contained high-level 

radioactive waste transported by truck from nuclear power plants. No 

high-level wastes crossed Iowa the previous year. The numbers are the 

latest and most complete, according to the health department.



Teale said the low-level waste included items such as clothing 

exposed to radiation at medical facilities and materials used to 

clean up contaminated areas. All the wastes in the shipments have 

been in solid form. There have been no liquids, he said.



Kevin Kamps, spokesman for the Nuclear Information and Resource 

Service, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, said shipments will 

probably increase as storage space at nuclear plant sites runs out.



"High-level waste is almost entirely stored at where it has been 

generated, the reactor sites. And 75 percent of those sites are east 

of the Mississippi River," he said. "The big holdup is the lack of a 

national repository."



That repository is the proposed storage area at Yucca Mountain, 90 

miles northwest of Las Vegas. Public opposition and lawsuits have 

stalled the project.



Kamps said that the Department of Energy "has targeted Iowa as one of 

the main east-west corridors" to the Yucca Mountain repository.



"There have been 2,500 to 3,000 shipments of high-level wastes in the 

whole history of the United States," he said. "In one year of the 

Yucca Mountain program, there would be that many shipments. A lot of 

them would be through Iowa," he said.



Tom Sever, the state transportation department's hazardous materials 

coordinator, said there was one incident last year.



A truck carrying nuclear waste slid off an icy highway near the Quad 

Cities last year. The truck was slightly damaged, but continued on 

with its cargo undisturbed.

-----------------



PEMA, DEP Officials Train Volunteer Radiation Experts to Help With 

Emergency Response; Volunteers Would Provide On-Scene Expertise Until 

State Officials Arrive



HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Emergency 

Management Agency and Department of Environmental Protection 

officials are training 36 private-sector health physicists from 

around the state to be part of the Pennsylvania Radiological 

Assistance Program (PaRAP) Team to provide timely on-scene advice to 

first-responders in case of an incident involving radioactive 

materials.



"When Pennsylvania's police, fire and emergency service response 

crews arrive at an incident scene involving radioactive materials, 

they need expert advice as soon as possible on how to protect the 

public and themselves from possible radiological exposure," said PEMA 

Director David M. Sanko. "Training people with expertise in 

radiological issues in how to work in the high- pressure environment 

of an emergency site will help better ensure our local, county and 

state first-responders take the right action to protect the public 

when minutes count."



"DEP suggested this team of private-sector health physicists be 

developed as part of the Governor's 9/11 Security Task Force 

recommendations," said David J. Allard, director of DEP's Bureau of 

Radiation Protection. "Because of the size of our state, it could 

take some time for DEP's regional Bureau of Radiation Protection 

staff to reach an emergency scene. Local PaRAP Team members could 

respond much more quickly, and provide critical advice to first-

responders, and information to top state officials, much more 

quickly."



The goal eventually is to have at least one PaRAP Team member in each 

of the state's 67 counties. All PaRAP Team members will be highly 

qualified people from the private sector. Once a team member has 

completed training and has been added to the home county emergency 

responder list, he or she will receive proper identification to 

permit access to emergency sites. Some team members may receive 

radiological survey instrumentation kits recently purchased by DEP 

with U.S. Department of Homeland Security funding.



"It's vital these radiological experts understand how to function at 

an emergency scene," PEMA Director Sanko added. "The training they 

receive will concentrate on the incident command system and emergency 

organizational structure, as well as the operating procedures, safety 

practices, terminology and communications protocols, and safe working 

practices in a disaster environment."



"Our mandate as an agency is to protect the public health and the 

environment," Allard said. "We believe by training these radiation 

protection experts to help in the first hours of an emergency 

situation, we will be enhancing our ability to do just that."

----------------



Downwinders to AG: Sue the feds



BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A group of residents suffering health problems 

likely caused by radioactive fallout is asking the Idaho Attorney 

General to sue the federal government.



House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet and 15 others wrote a letter to 

Attorney General Lawrence Wasden requesting that he file a class 

action lawsuit against the federal government and private 

corporations. They want compensation for detrimental health effects 

caused by nuclear testing during the 1950s and 1960s. The iodine-131 

component of nuclear fallout has been linked to cancer.



"I'd like to have the attorney general get involved," Jaquet said. "I 

think it's just another alternative for compensation."



But there is one problem, said Bob Cooper, Wasden's spokesman.



"As a general rule, the attorney general does not file class action 

suits," Cooper said. Instead, private attorneys typically handle 

lawsuits like this, he said.



"There may be a misunderstanding of the legal system," Cooper said.



He would not comment specifically on the letter, but said Wasden 

would respond to the senders directly.



During a hearing earlier this month, the downwinders testified in 

front of representatives of the National Academy of Sciences about 

including Idaho under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which 

pays $50,000 to residents in some parts of Nevada, Utah and Arizona 

for health problems related to nuclear testing.



But local downwinders say the federal government tested at times when 

they knew weather patterns would carry the fallout into Idaho, and 

state residents should be compensated appropriately.



The National Academy of Sciences intends to make its recommendation 

to Congress in March.



The letter writers said they were concerned with three main things: 

time, the amount of compensation and the types of illnesses 

considered for compensation.



Ailing downwinders need money now to pay medical bills, Jaquet said. 

Under current procedures Idaho downwinders have to wait for Congress 

to decide whether they should be included in the compensation 

program.



Even if Congress does decide to include Idaho, the law only 

recognizes 20 types of cancer for compensation and offers $50,000.



"People have bills in excess of $50,000," Jaquet said.



Some local researchers have found high concentration of autoimmune 

diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis in the region around Shoshone, 

which was affected by fallout, Jaquet said.



The letter suggests the government should compensate downwinders not 

only for medical bills, but also for pain and suffering. The same act 

that compensates downwinders $50,000 pays miners - who knowingly 

assume some risk with the job - $150,000.



The letter suggests a higher level of compensation for downwinders: 

"We were innocent bystanders hundreds of miles away. So $250,000 

appears appropriate."

------------------



Officials: Better communication might have prevented nuclear plant 

mishap



LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK, N.J. (AP) - A break in a steam pipe that caused 

the shutdown of the Hope Creek nuclear plant last month might have 

been prevented had the plant's operators and engineers communicated 

better, the top executive at the plant said.



Hope Creek, one of three nuclear plants run by PSEG Nuclear on Salem 

County's Artificial Island, was shut down on Oct. 10 after the pipe 

ruptured, causing radiation levels to rise briefly in an area 

normally off-limits to plant workers.



The plant had been scheduled to be shut down for routine refueling 

and maintenance a few weeks later. It's now unclear when it will be 

restarted, said Chris Bakken, chief nuclear officer for PSEG Nuclear.



The company's original diagnosis of the problem turned out to be 

wrong, Bakken said Friday. Originally it was thought that a hanger 

holding the pipe in place was not properly connected to a structural 

beam above. But Bakken said the company has since determined that the 

hanger was only part of the problem.



The main cause, he said, was an open valve on the pipe that 

eventually caused it to crack.



By Sept. 14, plant operators noticed through remote monitoring that 

the valve was starting to open and asked company engineers whether it 

could cause a problem, Bakken said.



Arthur Bready, who manages plant operators, said the explanation from 

engineers led the operators to believe the situation would not cause 

serious problems.



"We had the right question asked by our operators and the wrong 

answer from our engineers, which led to an inappropriate management 

decision," Bakken said.



----------------------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle 

Senior Vice President, Technical Operations 

Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc. 

2652 McGaw Avenue

Irvine, CA 92614



Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714 Extension 2306 

Fax:(949) 296-1144



Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 

Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/ 



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