Los Alamos Neutron Science Center Division Director Roger Pynn ordered the stand-down, which also affects employees from the Physics and Engineering Sciences and Applications divisions and the Accelerator Production of Tritium Project people who work in that area. The stand-down means that all experimental and other research work is halted until the respective groups re-evaluate the hazards associated with their work and ensure that they perform such work safely. Approximately 460 Los Alamos employees are affected by the action.
The stand-down also affects those scheduled to use the beam at the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center. The center is a DOE user facility that attracts about 400 researchers from industry, universities and other federal laboratories annually.
Pynn briefed employees on his stand-down decision during an all-hands meeting held Friday morning in the Louis Rosen Auditorium at TA-53. "I don't want anybody to be hurt," he told the audience.
The incidents that have occurred this year include:
- A purchased ceramic test element used for proton radiography was found to contain traces of beryllium, a hazardous element.
- A chlorine release exceedence occurred from one of TA-53's water towers.
- There were two separate water leak incidents from the new target at the Lujan center.
- An ungrounded piece of legacy electrical equipment was discovered near one of Los Alamos' accelerators. This most recent incident occurred on Thursday evening.
None of the incidents has resulted in any injuries, although one of the water leaks resulted in a Los Alamos employee receiving external contamination of Tungsten-181 on his hands and pants. The employee suffered no adverse effects and Los Alamos investigators currently are trying to determine specifically how the employee became contaminated.
Pynn said prior to Thursday's incident, he already was concerned about the earlier five incidents and earlier this week had ordered beam delivery suspended pending an oral report from an ad hoc investigating group on whether there were any root common causes. "With the exception of the two water leaks, the group could not find any root common causes," he said.
Pynn also said because each group deals with different activities and therefore has different work environments, each group will be responsible for developing a plan for evaluating its work areas for safety. "We hope to have the formal processes for performing these evaluations and approving them in place by today (Friday)," he said.
The LANSCE division director said he expects activities to resume operations on a case-by-case basis. "You need to convince yourselves that you can perform the work safely," he told the audience.
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