Weapons Engineering Tritium Facility (WETF) located at TA-16. Photo by Richard Robinson, Imaging Services (IM-4)
Small amount of tritium released at Technical Area 16
An accidental release of tritium occurred at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday at the Laboratory's Technical Area 16, site of the Weapons Engineering Tritium Facility (WETF), during a process for packaging containers. Tritium gas cylinders were undergoing this process at WETF when the valve fitting on one cylinder apparently failed and triggered personal and room monitors inside the facility.
The release was sufficiently small that it presented no danger to workers nearby or to the public. A preliminary assessment of the release indicates that approximately five curies of tritiated water vapor and approximately 1,000 Curies of tritium gas was released.
An initial calculation placed the maximum possible offsite dose at the nearest Laboratory boundary point at 0.02 millirem. The average yearly dose in Los Alamos is 360 millirem, due primarily to natural sources. The amount of material released is far below any federal regulatory reporting requirements, and is one five-hundredth of the allowable annual offsite exposure limits.
There was a worker present in the room where the release occurred. A initial assessment of the worker showed an exposure of less than one millirem. This represents less than one five-thousandth of the allowable annual worker exposure limit.
Other workers were present outside the facility and only two individuals showed any exposure, measured at 0.2 millirem and 0.05 millirem. The other workers showed no detectable exposure.
Tritium is a radioactive material with a relatively short half-life of 12.3 years. It emits low-energy beta radioactivity, so that even a sheet of paper can shield a person from exposure. Tritium's commercial applications include use as medical diagnostic tracers and for radio-therapeutic treatments. The most common use of tritium is in the self-illuminating exit signs found in most buildings.
Tritium can be present in the form of water vapor or as an elemental gas. Tritium is most readily absorbed in the body when it is in the form of water vapor. Tritium gas is not readily absorbed into the body.
At the Laboratory tritium is used in research on fusion energy, nuclear weapons and assuring the safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile.
WETF began operations in 1989 and is specifically designed and built to process tritium safely to protect workers, the public and the environment. The primary operations at WETF include repackaging, recycling, mixing and analyzing tritium gas. WETF is a 5,000 square-foot, one-level building constructed primarily of reinforced concrete. The facility has an extensive instrument and control system that provides operators with real-time data, alarms and systems controls.
--Kevin Roark
FEMA hosts public meeting Feb. 7 in Los Alamos
International employees, non Los Alamos residents urged to submit claims
The Office of Cerro Grande Fire Claims is hosting a public meeting next Wednesday, Feb. 7 to talk about the economic impact of the fire on Los Alamos and surrounding communities.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which wrote a report on the economic impact of the fire, will discuss the report and be available to answer questions, said Noel Boxer of FEMA's Office of Cerro Grande Fire Claims.
The town meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Betty Ehart Senior Center, 1000 Oppenheimer Drive in Los Alamos.
Boxer said the Office of Cerro Grande Fire Claims is encouraging Los Alamos residents, international employees at the Laboratory, and others affected by the fire to submit claims for reimbursement. He said White Rock residents and others outside of Los Alamos who were forced to evacuate because of the fire may be eligible for certain evacuation expenses. Such expenses include but aren't limited to hotel or motel accommodations, mileage, telephone calls, clothing, meals, laundry and dry cleaning, lost wages, flood insurance, food loss, insurance deductibles, cleanup labor expenses, business or other financial losses, real and personal property loss, firewood, trees, landscaping and garden expenses.
Boxer said international employees at the Lab - even those employees no longer employed at the Lab or living in Los Alamos - should submit claim forms. "They don't need to be a United States citizen to apply," said Boxer.
The notice of loss forms can be found on FEMA's World Wide Web page. The forms can be printed out, completed and then mailed back to FEMA, said Boxer. He added that people filing claims should include an electronic mail address to expedite the process.
Boxer added that people who have additional questions about filing claims can call FEMA's toll free number at 1-888-748-1853, or write to cerrograndenewsletter@fema.gov by electronic mail. The federal agency website also has fire related information available at www.fema.gov/cerrogrande online.
More information, including fire claims service center locations, is available in the Office of Cerro Grande Fire Claims newsletter at (link to newsletter). (Adobe Acrobat Reader required)
--Steve Sandoval
Buhl appointed to State Radiation Advisory
Council
Tom Buhl, chief scientist for the Laboratory's Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) Division, has been appointed to the New Mexico Radiation Technical Advisory Council.
A 19-year veteran of the Laboratory, Buhl's appointment was announced recently by Governor Gary Johnson.
The RTAC is housed within the New Mexico Environment Department and serves as technical advisor on radiation issues to the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and to the New Mexico Radiation Protection Program. "Its authority covers all commercial and New Mexico State radioactive sources and x-ray machines," said Buhl. "But it does not include federal facilities such as [the Laboratory]," he said.
Buhl has 23 years of health physics experience and has been a certified health physicist since 1981. He has served as chair of the American Board of Physics and is currently treasurer of the American Academy of Health Physics. He also is a member of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors as well as the American Physical Society.
He has a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Notre Dame, and master's and doctoral degrees in physics from the University of Wisconsin.
-- Fran Talley
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Nominations are being accepted through Feb. 9 for the next Leadership Institute, Feb. 25 through March 2. The Leadership Institute is operated by Training and Development (HR-6). For more information, including nomination forms, go to http://www.hr.lanl.gov/Leadership/ online, or see the master management memo. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required) |
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Cloudy Morn Steam rises from vents on the north side of the J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center at about sunrise early Tuesday morning. The cold morning temperatures, coupled with the sunlight created the illusion of smoke. Photo by Michael Carlson, Public Affairs |
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Nominations for February Leadership Institute
being accepted
Hunter Education
Instructor course to be offered in March
