INCIDENT IN USA RADIATION PLANT

13 EXPOSED TO RADIATION AT US PLANT

In New Mexico, USA, 13 workers at a US underground nuclear waste dump have tested positive for radiation exposure after a recent leak.

The accident is the first known release of radiation since the dump began taking plutonium-contaminated waste from US nuclear bomb building sites 15 years ago.

The US Department of Energy and the contractor that runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Project declined to comment further on the preliminary test results announced on Wednesday.

All employees who were working at the plant when the leak occurred late  Feb 14 were checked for contamination before being allowed to leave according to the news. But biological samples were also taken to check for possible exposure from inhaling radioactive particles.

Elevated radiation levels have been detected in the air around the plant, but officials have stated the readings are too low to constitute a public health threat. And they have also stated that all indications are that a filtration system designed to immediately kick in when radiation is detected and keep 99 % of contamination from being released above ground worked flawlessly.  

Officials stated that they can tell from their analyses of air samples in and around the plant that a container of waste leaked, but it could be weeks before they can get underground to find out what caused it.

Possible scenarios include a ceiling collapse or a forklift puncturing a canister, the president of Nuclear Waste Partnership stated on Monday before a community meeting in Carlsbad. The leak came just nine days after a truck hauling salt in the plant’s deep mines caught fire, but officials states they are confident the incidents are unrelated.

WIPP is the first deep underground nuclear repository in the US and the only facility in the country that can store plutonium-contaminated clothing and tools from Los Alamos National Laboratory and other federal nuclear sites.