EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a regular summary
of operations at DOE's Idaho Site. It has been compiled
in response to a request from stakeholders for more
information on health, safety and environmental
incidents at DOE facilities in Idaho. It also includes a
brief summary of accomplishments at the laboratory. The
report is broken down by contractor:
Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP),
Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP)
and
Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This summary will
be sent to everyone on INL's regular news release
distribution list every other week. To be added to this
distribution list, please call Brad Bugger at (208)
526-0833.
Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project
Oct. 23: A radiological technician working at the
Advanced Waste Treatment Facility received radioactive
contamination on his skin when he inadvertently
contacted a contaminated cell door while helping three
other technicians leave a processing cell. The
contamination was removed from the worker's skin and all
entries at treatment facility cells were suspended
pending results of a fact finding.
(EM-ID-ITG-AMWTF-2012-0021).
Nov. 3: The foot of an employee working in a waste
storage building at the Advanced Waste Treatment
Facility was accidentally run over by a forklift. The
employee was taken to an off-site medical facility for
treatment. (EM-ID-ITG-AMWTF-2012-0022).
Operational Summary
Waste Shipments: Eight of eight planned shipments of contract-handled
transuranic waste and two of two planned shipments of
remote-handled transuranic waste were made from Idaho to
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for
disposal during the week ending Nov. 3, 2012.
Idaho Cleanup Project
Nothing to report.
Operational Summary
Waste Processing: CH2M-Hill (CWI) has begun its
readiness assessment to begin startup of the Sludge
Repackaging Project operations at WMF-1617. The parallel
processing of waste at both the Advanced Mixed Waste
Treatment Project and WMF-1617 will help speed up
processing and shipping of waste out of Idaho for
disposal.
Idaho National Laboratory
Oct. 23: Two technicians working at the Specific
Manufacturing Capability Project entered a guarded area
to perform equipment maintenance without the proper
lockout/tagout applied. Notifications were made and a
critique of the incident was held.
(NE-ID-BEA-SMC-2012-0004).
Oct. 24: A review of a lockout/tagout record showed that
a required zero energy verification had not been
performed prior to inspection of the 30-ton crane at the
Advanced Test Reactor. Work was immediately stopped on
the 30-ton crane and the required zero energy
verification was performed. (NE-ID-BEA-ATR-2012-0026).
Oct. 25: Facility management personnel at the Willow
Creek Building discovered a subcontractor performing
maintenance on a commercial coffee machine without the
installation of a lockout/tagout. The subcontractor had
opened an internal circuit breaker to de-energize the
coffee machine, but did not lock the breaker. Work was
stopped and the coffee-making equipment was put in a
safe condition. (NE-ID-BEA-STC-2012-0002).
Oct. 29: An INL power management lineman fell about 8
feet from a bucket truck onto the ground while
performing work on the INL Site. The injured lineman was
transported to a medical facility for treatment. All
power management work was suspended until a critique
could be held and corrective actions implemented.
(NE-ID-BEA-CFA-2012-0004).
Oct. 31: A subcontractor performing work at the U.S.
Department of Energy-managed Radiological and
Environmental Sciences Laboratory performed work on an
electrical system without following lockout/tagout
procedures. There was no contact with hazardous energy,
work was stopped and a critique held.
(NE-ID-GOID-RESL-2012-0001).
Nov. 8: Personnel discovered that oil had leaked from a
shielding window into the main hot cell at the Hot Fuel
Examination Facility. This resulted in a violation of
criticality control procedures for the facility. All
fissile material movements were halted in affected areas
of the cell until the situation could be remedied. A
critique of the incident was held.
(NE-ID-BEA-HFEF-2012-0005).
Nov. 8: Dosimetry personnel determined that
approximately 81 electronic dosimeters were assigned
incorrect calibration dates within the electronic
record-keeping system, when in fact the dosimeter
calibrations had expired. The dosimeters were collected,
along with the optically stimulated dosimeters of the
individuals who wore them, and they will be processed to
determine the actual radiation dose those individuals
received. The electronic dosimeter calibration dates
were corrected in the record-keeping system. A critique
of the incident was held. (NE-ID-BEA-CFA-2012-0005).
Operational Summary
Research "Cave": There's a cave in Idaho drawing
visits from a wide range of researchers, from nuclear
scientists to utility engineers to geologists. They're
all flocking to the Computer Assisted Virtual
Environment (CAVE) in the Center for Advanced Energy
Studies at Idaho National Laboratory. Since it was
installed in 2010, scientists, engineers, architects and
others have used the immersive 3-D environment for a
variety of projects, including studying transmission
line routes and examining subsurface terrain.
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