U.S. OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL ANNOUNCES REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT OF SAFETY CONCERNS AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 11/4/98
CONTACT: JANE MCFARLAND
(202) 653-7984      

    The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) today transmitted to President Clinton and the Congress reports of investigation by the Department of Energy (DOE) into DOE’s actions both preceding and following a fire that occurred in 1994 at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. The fire occurred in connection with the Terrific Reactor Isotope Separator To Analyze Nuclides (TRISTAN) experiment, which was being conducted by a private contractor at Brookhaven, under DOE’s supervision. 

    The TRISTAN investigation was triggered by a disclosure made to OSC by Joseph Carson, a DOE safety engineer. Mr. Carson, who had been appointed to a board responsible for investigating the 1994 fire, alleged that DOE officials had permitted the contractor at Brookhaven to operate the TRISTAN experiment for more than ten years in non-compliance with a series of DOE safety orders and procedures. Had the procedures been followed, he alleged, the experiment would have been shut down because of the dangerous energies and substances, high voltage and high level radioactive waste being used in a confined area with inadequate containment. OSC found that Mr. Carson’s disclosures demonstrated a substantial likelihood of a violation of law, rule or regulation or a substantial and specific danger to the public health, and forwarded the allegations to DOE, directing it to conduct an investigation and provide a written report.

    DOE’s reports to OSC confirmed Mr. Carson’s allegation that it had not conducted comprehensive safety reviews of the TRISTAN experiment and that the accident investigation board erroneously failed to examine the reasons why this occurred. DOE stated that it has since taken formal steps to insure that future accident investigations examine such “root causes.” With respect to the “root causes” of the TRISTAN fire, DOE’s reports further state that investigations which followed the fire identified a number of management inadequacies as contributing to the failure to conduct safety reviews of TRISTAN commensurate with its hazards. 

    The issue of whether TRISTAN was a “nuclear facility” remains an area of major disagreement between DOE and the whistleblower. DOE has concluded that TRISTAN was not a nuclear facility and that, accordingly, the comprehensive safety analysis rules applicable to such facilities were not applicable. Mr. Carson has requested that DOE agree to invoke the “Differing Professional Opinion” process to resolve the issue. OSC is informed that his request is still pending.

    The Office of Special Counsel provides federal employees with a secure channel for blowing the whistle on, among other things, violations of law, rule or regulation, gross mismanagement or waste of funds, or a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. OSC is empowered to require agencies to conduct investigations whenever it finds a substantial likelihood that a federal employee’s disclosure demonstrates the existence of one of these conditions, and to report back to OSC its findings along with any corrective action taken. After OSC reviews the report to insure that it contains the necessary information and that its findings appear reasonable, OSC transmits the report to the President and Congress for further action, if appropriate.

    Copies of the DOE reports, Mr. Carson’s comments, and Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan’s transmittal letters can be obtained by contacting OSC.

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