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Doubts on safety procedures at Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory

Questions about Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory safety program raised, Security Info watch BY JOHN FLECK, Albuquerque Journal, N.M. 11-2-2011 -Los Alamos National Laboratory has repeatedly missed deadlines to fix nuclear safety problems, according to two September letters to the lab from federal managers.

The letters suggest no immediate nuclear dangers. But they raise questions about a number of systems intended to reduce risk, most importantly procedures intended to prevent what are called “criticality” accidents — inadvertent nuclear chain reactions.

The problems affect the lab’s main plutonium complex, where nuclear
weapons parts are made, and a group of facilities that handles nuclear
waste. In both areas, the problems have lingered for years, according
to a pair of memos from C.H. Keilers Jr., the top nuclear safety
official at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos
Site Office.

The basic problem, according to Keilers’ letters, was complacency and
overconfidence on the part of workers….

Located on a mesa west of Santa Fe, Los Alamos is the nation’s primary
center for work with plutonium, the dangerously radioactive metal at
the heart of nuclear weapons. Much of the work, including the
manufacture of some nuclear weapons parts, is done in the lab’s
Technical Area 55 Plutonium Facility, also known as “PF-4.”

PF-4, built in the 1970s, is a Walmart-size concrete bunker that
includes plutonium storage and work areas. The work with plutonium is
done in “glove boxes,” boxes with an inert atmosphere and sealed
portholes where heavy gloves allow researchers and technicians to work
with plutonium without being directly exposed to it.

One of the letters said recent problems at PF-4 “have called into
question the effectiveness of the conduct of operations and
criticality safety programs.”

In addition to problems at PF-4, the letters note:

Questions about the adequacy of the fire protection system at a
facility that packages radioactive waste for offsite shipment;

Inadequate lightning protection in large tentlike structures where
radioactive waste is stored; and

Questions about whether the power supply systems in one of the lab’s
nuclear facilities can withstand an earthquake — a key feature
because safety systems must continue to operate in a quake.

These were among “an inordinately large” number of problems identified
in the lab’s major nuclear waste handling facilities, according to the
NNSA letters.

The most serious criticism was aimed at criticality safety programs.

Criticality happens when too much of particular types of nuclear
material, including plutonium, are brought together in a small space.
When that happens, a nuclear chain reaction can result, releasing a
dangerous burst of radiation. The risk is not an explosion. The
primary danger is exposing the scientists and technicians in the room
to radiation. “This is a worker exposure issue,” Anderson said.

In a famous 1946 accident, Canadian scientist Louis Slotin died after
a Los Alamos criticality accident. In the decades since, strict
operating rules have been imposed in an attempt to prevent recurrence.

The most serious incident cited in the letters happened in August,
when a worker put two cast metal pieces of plutonium together in a
single “glove box” to photograph them. That violated regulations
intended to prevent criticality. In that case, there was no chain
reaction, but the employee then failed to follow safety procedures to
manage the risk once the mistake was discovered, according to the
memo.

The September letters cite 23 “criticality infractions” last year in
PF-4. According to the letters, the trend continued this year…..

http://www.securityinfowatch.com/node/1323144

November 3, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA