SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) ? A sodium fire erupted on Friday at a U.S. Nuclear laboratory in Idaho, burning one worker, but the incident posed no risk to the public, the lab said.
The incident was the second this week at the sprawling facility. Earlier this week, at least six workers were contaminated by low-level plutonium radiation and 11 others were exposed following a mishap at the lab.
The chemical fire on Friday broke out in a building adjacent to a decommissioned, experimental reactor at the U.S. Department of Energy's sprawling Idaho National Laboratory that is cooled by sodium, lab spokeswoman Sara Prentice said.
The fire may have been caused by a sodium reaction, Prentice said.
The unidentified employee, who works for the private Idaho Cleanup Project, was taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls for evaluation of burns, the lab said in a written statement.
Hospital spokeswoman Cindy Smith-Putnam said she could not comment on the worker's condition due to patient privacy laws.
Ten other employees were evaluated at the scene by medical personnel and released, the lab said. Others at the complex were told to remain in their buildings as a precautionary measure, but there was no evidence of continued reaction or fire.
"Not only is there no risk to the public, there is no contamination or radiological involvement," Prentice said.
The lab said fire crews had responded to the fire at the Sodium Boiler Building, which is owned and operated by the private Idaho Cleanup Project.
The Idaho Cleanup Project is a private company contracted with the Department of Energy to clean up waste at the site and workers there were involved in demolition and dismantlement activities, the lab said.
According to its website, the Idaho Cleanup Project at the Idaho National Labs involves the safe, environmental cleanup of waste at the site generated by World War II-era conventional weapons testing, government-owned research and defense reactors, laboratory research, and defense missions at other Department of Energy sites.
The Idaho Cleanup Project said in press release issued in March that sodium "can ignite on contact with air and react violently with water, producing hydrogen, making preparations and treatment a significant safety concern."
That first incident earlier this week took place inside a deactivated reactor housing in a facility used for remotely handling, processing and examining spent nuclear fuel, radioactive waste and other irradiated materials, the lab has said.
Some 6,000 employees and contractors work at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Energy Department's leading facility for nuclear reactor technology, which is located about 40 miles west of Idaho Falls.
It opened in 1949 as a national reactor testing station.
(Additional reporting by Mary Slosson. Writing by Dan Whitcomb. Editing by Greg McCune)
heavy d dead heavy d dead alaska weather alaska weather election results gop debate live gop debate live
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন