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Possible Radioactive Leak Investigated At Washington Nuclear Site (upi.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the going-for-Geiger-counters dept.

Authorities are investigating radioactive material found on a worker's clothing one week after a tunnel collapse at the waste nuclear waste site in the state of Washington. Around 7 p.m. Thursday, Washington River Protection Solutions, a government contractor contractor in charge of all 177 underground storage tanks at the nuclear site. detected high radiation readings on a robotic device that seven workers were pulling out of a tank. Then, contamination was also discovered on the clothing of one worker -- on one shoe, on his shirt and on his pants in the knee area.

"Radiological monitoring showed contamination on the unit that was three times the planned limit. Workers immediately stopped working and exited the area according to procedure," said Rob Roxburgh, deputy manager of WRPS Communications & Public Relations said to KING-TV. Using leak-detection instruments, WRPS said it did not find liquid escaping the tank. "Everybody was freaked, shocked, surprised," said a veteran worker, who was in direct contact with crew members. "[The contamination] was not expected. They're not supposed to find contamination in the annulus [safety perimeter] of the double shell tanks."
Washington's attorney general, urging a federal clean-up of the site, insists "This isn't the first potential leak and it won't be the last."

10 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. I used to work at Hanford Site... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and three times the planned limit is nothing. Before I quit, we had a scare where the monitors said there was a "major" problem, but it was someone that had an old smoke detector in their backpack that they brought from home that they forgot about. If a smoke detector is considered safe in your home, then having one at a radioactive dump shouldn't be considered a problem, but it was. This is just people being overly cautious.

    1. Re:I used to work at Hanford Site... by hey! · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sure, but you don't set such limits to detect catastrophes. You set such limits to detect unforeseen circumstances that might, perhaps in rare situations, lead to catastrophe.

      A worker being exposed to harmful levels of radiation is catastrophic. A worker being exposed to a level of radiation that is medically harmless but which should not have occurred is a situation that requires investigation, because that means something about your assumptions isn't quite right. That doesn't mean you ought to panic; in any sensibly conservative procedure you have to accept that false positive concern is a routine event -- as in your story of the smoke detector.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    2. Re:I used to work at Hanford Site... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

      Agreed. Who carries around old smoke detectors? Plus you won't read any alpha rays coming from the metal can.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    3. Re:I used to work at Hanford Site... by msauve · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Who carries around old smoke detectors?"

      Americium, Fuck Yeah!

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    4. Re:I used to work at Hanford Site... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

      When Chernobyl happened the first view days it was kept s secret.
      But then research agencies all over Europe suddenly had problems.

      In my university (KIT Karlsruhe), the institute that had some radio nuclides had radiation alerts for days, until they figured there was no problem _inside_ of the institute but that people were carrying in the"radiation" with their shoes in from outside.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  2. Re:I'm a downwinder by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The problem with the "cleanup" is that once you have "cleaned up" the radiation, where are you going to put it? In a landfill? That is just moving the problem from one place to another. A geological repository like Yucca Mountain doesn't work, because that is for small amounts of high level waste, not large amounts of low level waste like we have at Hanford.

    There really aren't any good solutions, but in politics "something must be done" so paying contractors to play environmental theater while they move stuff around in circles is about the best we can do.

  3. I don't think so. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Funny

    As a superhero in training, I've licked every part of that nuclear site to expose myself to radiation and while one puddle made my teeth feel warm, I still don't have any superpowers, so I would say it's a safe bet that this is a false alarm. It's unrelated but does anyone know a good dentist? Because my teeth recently fell out. ;)

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  4. What is this stuff? by seven+of+five · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Radioactive waste" doesn't tell me much. What are the nuclides, how many curies?

  5. Re: I'm a downwinder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Find a a shallow water off-shore geologic subduction zone,drill in close to drop down point,pump in low level waste,it's not perfect,but it is probably far safer than gathering it all together on a land site and storing/processing,if it seems to work ok,for say a century,start getting rid of the realy dangerous high level crud in the same way.
    Keep fingers crossed for several thousand years until "proven" a safer system.
    Or combine two projects,ultra deep moho drilling project funded by nuclear /waste industry and govs, then use that as dump hole..

  6. Pants... by Tomahawk · · Score: 3, Funny

    Outside of the North Americas we use the word "trousers", with "pants" refers to underwear. So seeing a phrase like "radioactive material was found on his pants" tends to raise some eyebrows...