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.
