Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Radiation Incident
Ivy Kha
Last Edited: March 2016
Ivy Kha
Last Edited: March 2016
The Department of Energy investigated Oak Ridge National Library and found seven workers internally exposed to highly enriched uranium.The exposure was a result of a secret project involving the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. Highly enriched uranium was transported from the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant to the Irradiation Fuels Examination Laboratory of ORNL. The workers were instructed to repackage the shipment and reduce the size of the uranium metal alloy items. During this procedure, uranium particles released into the air unexpectedly and the workers inhaled the highly enriched uranium. The governing contractor at this laboratory "was not fully informed of the composition and physical characteristics of the radioactive materials — in part because of the classified nature of its former use at Y-12." The doses taken in by the workers could have been reduced if the hazards of these materials had been better understood, but unfortunately, this was not the case. Instead, ORNL contractor UT-Battelle was "ordered to pay a fine of $112,500 and take a number of corrective actions."
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Workers:
Radiation and Mortality Correlation
In August of 1999, an article titled Radiation and Mortality of Workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Positive Associations for Doses Received at Older Ages by David B. Richardson and Steve Wing was published. They studied the long term effects of low-level external radiation exposure among ORNL workers. This article reported that "cumulative dose received after 45 years of age was positively associated with all cancer mortality under a 5-year lag assumption, 10-year lag assumption, and 20-year lag assumption." This study included more ORNL workers compared to the previous studies because they took into consideration the workers that were no longer employed at this facility but happened to previously work at this facility. By expanding their observation criteria to include those that were no longer employed, there was "an estimated 5.36% increase in all cancer mortality per 10 milli-sievert cumulative dose received after 45 years of age under a 10-year lag, as compared to the 4.98% per 10 mSv estimate." Information about agents that caused individual exposure had not been known in detail, however, external ionizing radiation played a big factor in these findings. Ionizing radiation exposure occurs when "energy is released by atoms in the form of electromagnetic waves or particles." Exposure can also come from x-rays, medical devices, vegetation, and water. The more ionizing radiation one is exposed to, the more health hazards arise, such as cancer.
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Former Workers of ORNL
About Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant
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The Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant is where the nation's main supply of bomb-grade uranium is held. Y-12 is responsible for assembly and disassembly of weapons parts, chemical recovery, casting, machining and storage." In 2014, this DOE site was addressed to improve safety conditions by hiring ten more engineers to "deal with criticality safety", which is important in the prevention of nuclear and radiation accidents.
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However, it was reported that only three more had been hired in the following year. According to the DOE report, "Y-12 had 56 infractions related to nuclear criticality safety" throughout 2014 while it's sister plant, Pantex, which is mainly responsible for assembly and disassembly, had 0 infractions in the past 22 years. The ironic difference is that Pantex only had 2 criticality safety engineers while Y-12 had dozens.
The Y-12 Incident
These five workers experienced a variety of side effects including fevers, infections, loss of hair, low blood count due to bleeding, trouble using the bathroom, weight fluctuation, nausea, and vomiting. |
The portion of the document shown above indicates that IF the patient received less than 250 rads, therapeutic frustration is not needed.
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However, the medical record also reports that four of the five exceed the 250 rad limit, shown in the image to the left. Although this incident occurred decades ago, it seems to be the case that the Y-12 facility still has trouble with managing safety conditions for its workers. Those who are involved with this facility, such as the Oak Ride National Laboratory, also have workers affected by radiation, while Y-12 does not appear to have made any advancements in working conditions.
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Sources:
(1) http://www.knoxnews.com/news/local/ornl-contractor-fined-112500-for-radiation-accident-ep-1119330922-362216361.html
(2) http://knoxblogs.com/atomiccity/2015/07/01/y-12-meets-expectations-on-nuclear-criticality-safety/
(3) http://web.ornl.gov/info/reports/1959/3445602760616.pdf
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1566496/pdf/envhper00513-0081.pdf
(5) http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs371/en/
(1) http://www.knoxnews.com/news/local/ornl-contractor-fined-112500-for-radiation-accident-ep-1119330922-362216361.html
(2) http://knoxblogs.com/atomiccity/2015/07/01/y-12-meets-expectations-on-nuclear-criticality-safety/
(3) http://web.ornl.gov/info/reports/1959/3445602760616.pdf
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1566496/pdf/envhper00513-0081.pdf
(5) http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs371/en/