March 26--An independent board charged with reviewing an underground fire and a radiation leak at New Mexico's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has criticized the emergency response to both incidents in a report.
Operations at WIPP, an underground repository for low-level nuclear waste, "were not performed with the rigor necessary for a hazard category 2 defense nuclear facility," according to a letter from the Washington, D.C.-based Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich.
"Both the federal and contractor workforce proved unprepared for emergency response. No one was seriously hurt in either event, but these were both near misses."
As part of the executive branch, the safety board advises the president and energy secretary on public health and safety issues related to the Energy Department's nuclear defense facilities. Earlier this month, Udall and Heinrich requested the board review the incidents at WIPP.
The safety board described WIPP's initial response to the Feb. 14 radiation release as "unsatisfactory."
WIPP stores what's known as transuranic waste, radioactive debris left over from the country's nuclear weapons program, in salt beds deep under the surface. It had done so safely for most of its existence until the fire and radiation leak.
During the radiation release, "shelter in place instructions were not given until 10 hours after the first indication of a problem, and over four hours after a release had been confirmed by local readings," the safety board said in its March 21 letter. "As a result, the internal contamination level of workers, although minor, was nevertheless greater than necessary."
The fecal samples of at least 18 workers have tested positive for radioactive material, although DOE officials maintain the levels remain below those considered a health hazard.
The letter described the WIPP Emergency Operations Center as "ineffective" and noted critically that the DOE's headquarters emergency center in Washington, D.C., was never notified.
Safety board staff have been at WIPP monitoring the recovery since Feb. 6.
When a salt-hauling truck operating underground caught fire on Feb. 5, the board reported, WIPP did not perform emergency notifications according to procedure. The plant switched on reduced-flow ventilation before all workers had evacuated, filling escape routes with smoke. Some workers struggled with or did not use self-rescue devices, among other issues.
The safety board said it has sent four letters to DOE since 2010 pointing out flaws in WIPP's fire protection and other safety programs. Despite "incremental improvements," the safety board determined that "the accident was preventable."
The determination echoes the DOE's own assessment.
Copyright 2014 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
