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Monday, February 08, 2010
LANL Taking Safety Measures
By John Fleck
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
Los Alamos National Laboratory is taking steps to reduce the risk of a potentially catastrophic radiation release should a major earthquake occur, according to a Feb. 2 letter from Energy Secretary Steven Chu to federal safety auditors.
The lab has already reduced the amount of plutonium allowed at Technical Area 55, one of two lab complexes devoted to work with plutonium, a dangerously radioactive metal used in nuclear weapons.
Other upgrades of safety systems in the concrete blockhouse are being launched, according to Chu's letter.
The National Nuclear Security Administration has agreed to spend $6.7 million this year to start on the upgrades, but federal budget documents suggest that the price tag for fixing the problem could be substantially larger.
Lab officials referred comment to federal officials in Washington, who also declined comment, saying they would let Chu's letter speak for itself.
The problems affect the lab's Plutonium Facility, also known as PF-4, a complex built in the 1970s to house the lab's main plutonium work. Current work there includes the manufacture of a small number of pits, the explosive cores of nuclear weapons.
In a report last October, safety auditors at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board revealed that a worst-case accident involving an earthquake and subsequent fire could lead to radiation doses at least 100 times above safe limits in the communities surrounding the lab.
Changes made since the October report have reduced the radiation risk in a worst-case accident by a factor of 15, but that is still above safe levels set out in Department of Energy safety policies, Chu said in the letter.
The Plutonium Facility was built to meet 1970s-era earthquake safety standards, in part based on scientists' understanding at the time of the level of earthquake risk in the Los Alamos area. Research since then led lab and federal officials to conclude that major earthquakes have been more frequent in the past than previously realized.
A lab study published in 2007 documented two or three earthquakes in the Los Alamos area greater than magnitude 6.5 in the last 10,000 years. The last large quake was at least 1,400 years ago, according to the study, and scientists say there is no way to predict when the next one will happen. Since 1991, there have been five earthquakes strong enough for residents to feel, according to the study.
The risk, according to the Safety Board's review, is that a worst case earthquake could breach the Plutonium Facility's walls, which are intended to contain any radiation leaks to the inside of the building.
If a fire subsequently broke out, clouds of smoke containing plutonium could escape the building and spread off of lab property.
Among the near-term steps being taken to reduce the danger, according to Chu's letter, is a reduction of the amount of plutonium allowed in lab work areas, meaning less material could escape in an accident.
Lab workers have also reduced fire risk by removing nearly 11 tons of flammable materials, according to the letter. Seismic improvements also are being made on the building's "gloveboxes," sealed containers within the building that hold the plutonium.
In the long run, according to Chu's letter, federal officials have committed to developing a new ventilation system for the building designed to withstand an earthquake and still operate in a way that would prevent a radiation leak.
No price tag has been set for the work, but federal budget documents submitted to Congress on Feb. 1 suggest the final cost could be more than $100 million.
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