More Problems at Los Alamos

More problems at the problem-wracked Los Alamos Lab site:

Moss, Rebecca (2018, Feb 26). Federal Watchdog Identifies New Workplace Safety Problems at Los Alamos Lab. Propublica, https://www.propublica.org/article/federal-watchdog-identifies-new-workplace-safety-problems-at-los-alamos-lab

Los Alamos National Laboratory has failed to keep track of a toxic metal used in nuclear weapons production, potentially exposing workers to serious health consequences, a federal watchdog has found.

The New Mexico lab’s failure to adequately track beryllium — small amounts of which can cause lung disease and cancer — violates federal regulations put in place to prevent worker overexposure, according to a report last week from the Department of Energy’s inspector general.

In 2011, a fire at Los Alamos led to atmospheric detections of Plutonium, Cesium, and Americium in the air from the Los Alamos Fire: http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/nmrcb/documents/LasConchasFireAirMonitoring.html

The public was not notified at the time because the radiation levels did not exceed federal safety standards.