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Austrian Workers Contaminated with Americium

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2013

SEIBERDORF, Austria — The Austrian firm Nuclear Engineering Seiberdorf consults on decommissioning, safety, operations and decontamination of nuclear sites and materials. In spite of its expertise, two employees were contaminated with americium-241 on May 3. Americium-241, a beta radiation emitter, has a half-life of 432 years. The workers opened a mislabeled transport container and had to be hospitalized after coming into contact with the radioactive material. The mislabeled container came from the Institute of Chemistry and Radiochemistry at the University of Innsbruck, which, two weeks after the Seiberdorf accident, was itself found to be tainted with the isotope. Two workers at the Institute were also contaminated. The contamination at Seiberdsdorf is widespread enough that the building where the incident occurred will need to be demolished and rebuilt at a cost of $662,000. 

— Austrian Times, May 5; Austrian Independent, May 23; IAEA, May 24, 2013

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DOE Transport Contaminated with Plutonium

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2013

HANFORD, Washington — The Washington State Department of Health is investigating the discovery of radioactivity outside the plastic packaging of a recent shipment from the Hanford Site. Contaminated “glove boxes” — used to manipulate plutonium during past nuclear weapons production — arrived at Perma-Fix Northwest in Richland, Washington, a company that prepares rad waste for disposal. On June 19, state regulators were informed of the plutonium contamination, but according to Perma-Fix, no plutonium escaped the garage where the waste was unloaded. A report uncovered by King 5 News in Seattle tells a different story. 

According to the state health department, the truck’s rigging system, a forklift and several spots at Perma-Fix were contaminated with plutonium. Workers weren’t wearing protective clothing when handling the packages. The Energy Department (DOE), which runs the US nuclear weapons program, said the plutonium contamination was minor and that liability for the contamination rested not with the DOE but with Perma-Fix and the state. The accident followed one in March 2012, when a mislabeled container from Hanford, caused a radioactive spill on a concrete floor which then had to be jackhammered, packaged and disposed of as radioactive waste. Perma-Fix has a $23 million contract for waste disposal with the DOE at Hanford. — King 5 News, July 2 & 30 & June 15; Seattle Times, June 26; Tri-City Herald, June 25 & 28, 2013 

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Black Hills Again Threatened by Uranium Mining

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2013

RAPID CITY, South Dakota — With just one “no” vote, the Rapid City Council passed a resolution “expressing grave concern” over uranium mining in South Dakota’s Black Hills, an area near Edgemont held sacred by the Great Sioux Nation. Concerned citizens flooded the council chambers August 14 after learning that the mayor and three council members met privately with employees of Canadian mining company Powertech. 

Protecting the water supply topped the list of concerns for residents. Radioactive and heavy metal contamination from such mining would poison the land for eons — uranium’s half-life is 4.4 billion years. If the mine becomes operational, up to 9,000 gallons of water from the Madison and Inyan Kara Aquifer — which supplies Rapid City — would be used every minute. A Powertech spokesman said that 98 percent of its waste water would be “recycled.” Mine opponents fear a dangerous boom of uranium mining in the Black Hills if the Powertech dig is allowed to proceed. 

Critics also point out that Powertech influence has weakened South Dakota’s regulatory oversight of mining, claiming state rules duplicate federal safety standards. According to KOTA TV news, Powertech managers say “uranium mining is safe, and water contamination in the Black Hills would be impossible,” adding, “the aquifers go around the Black Hills.” In order to move ahead, the Powertech project still needs federal and state approval. 

— Rapid City Journal, Aug. 20 & 15; KOTA News, Aug. 19, 2013

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Uranium Scare Forces Evacuation of Florida Airport

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2013

MIAMI, Florida — An anonymous caller to the Department of Emergency Management in Florida informed authorities of radioactive waste being stored along a fence line at the Opa-locka Executive Airport near Miami. Authorities found 55-gallon drums containing uranium-238 and evacuated the area July 25. The drums were located in an area used to dismantle planes, and contained parts from navigational equipment and counter-balances. U-238, being twice as dense as lead, is often used as balancing weights in aircraft. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesman Lieutenant Arnold Piedrahita said they found minimal levels of radiation. 

— CBS News, NBC, USA Today & Reuters, July 25, 2013

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Paducah Uranium Enrichment Halted

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2013

PADUCAH, Kentucky — For 59 years, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky has produced low-enriched uranium for nuclear reactor fuel. On June 1 the DOE closed the antique system, which used 20 times the electricity of the centrifuge process that replaced it. The DOE assumed responsiblity for its multibillion-dollar decommissioning, deconstruction and partial cleanup. Groundwater on and off the site is poisoned with dozens of toxins, principle among them the degreaser trichloroethylene, technetium-99, a radioactive fission product, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Taxpayers have paid $2 billion since 1988 for cleanup projects (including providing drinking water to people whose wells were poisoned with technecium) and are on the hook for billions more as the effort, held up by numerous difficulties, drags on. 

As of August 8, 28 rail cars filled with radioactive debris from demolition have travelled across the country to Clive, Utah where EnergySolutions runs a radioactive waste disposal site. Due to the mountain of radioactive materials at Paducah, no deadline has been projected for cleanup operations. Thus, the inherent health and environmental risks that come with deconstruction, demolition, packaging, decontamination, handling and shipping of radioactive materials and structures will multiply and continue for decades. — New York Times, May 24; NRC, June 28; Louisville Courier-Journal, July 15, 2013

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