17 Feb (NucNet): Operations personnel are responding to a radiological event at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) after an air monitor detected airborne radiation in an underground area of the site on 15 February 2014, the DOE has said.
In a statement yesterday the DOE said no surface contamination has been found on any equipment, personnel or facilities and there is no danger to human health or the environment.
WIPP’s system of air monitors and protective filtration system continue to function as designed and the source of the airborne radiation is still being investigated, the statement said.
In an earlier statement, the DOE said any possible release of radioactivity is minimised by the highly protective filtration system that is designed to filter any air leaving the WIPP repository.
The DOE said there were no employees working underground when the radiation was detected and employees on the surface were sheltered and cleared by radiological control technicians before being allowed to leave. As a precautionary measure, access to the site is now limited to essential personnel only.
WIPP is the US’s first repository for the permanent disposal of defence-generated transuranic radioactive waste left from research and production of nuclear weapons.
The facility, in southeastern New Mexico, includes disposal rooms excavated in an ancient, stable salt formation, about 650 meters underground. Waste disposal began at WIPP in March 1999.
