Radioactive gas causes air alerts at nuke waste repository near Carlsbad. No risk reported
A common radioactive substance was behind an incident at the nuclear repository near Carlsbad this week, which led to a temporary halt of its waste disposal activities but did not result in contamination at the facility, officials said, and operations resumed.
At about 3 a.m. on Monday, alerts were issued by air monitors at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s waste handling bay where waste is prepared for disposal, suggesting radioactive contamination in the area.
The site’s Emergency Operations Center was activated and WIPP employees at the site were asked to stay indoors during the investigation.
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Radiological control technicians initially found no contamination had escaped the area as it operates under negative air, meaning no air can escape the building.
The air is directed through high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters before being exhausted into the environment.
Once they entered the area, technicians took samples and found no contamination on surfaces, while filters from the continuous air monitors (CAMs) were sent for laboratory testing.
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Ultimately, no integrity issues were found with waste containers, said WIPP spokesman Donavan Mager, and no contamination was found.
After being tested, the filters showed traces of radon, which Mager said is produced by the presence of nuclear element Radium 226 which can produce radon gas expelled through a vent filter plug attached to waste containers.
“It is necessary to vent all waste containers to prevent the build-up of hazardous gasses as waste constituents breakdown,” Mager said.
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Radon gas was the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, per a May report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, causing about 21,000 deaths per year while about 2,900 of those deaths were people who never smoked. The overall leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. was smoking, the EPA reported, which can worsen the risks of radon exposure.
Radium 226 (Ra-226), which produces radon, is a radioactive substance found in nature, per a report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), produced by the decay of uranium.
When Ra-226 decays, it releases energy in the form of particles and rays known as radiation, read the report.
It was used in products like toothpaste and hair creams and devices like watches and timepieces in the early 20th Century, read the NRC report, and some food items as it was believed to have health benefits.
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Such uses were eventually banned, in several countries due to concerns for its health effects, the report read, but it continued to be used in some medical processes like radiation monitoring and oil well logging.
“Most uses of Ra-226 have been replaced by other radioactive materials or radiation generating devices which are more efficient or effective,” read the NRC report.
Waste shipment issues reported at WIPP since spring
The Monday incident followed a string of events this year where problematic waste shipments interrupted waste handling and disposal operations at the WIPP site, leading to evacuations of the waste handling building and resulting in an investigation by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED).
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Transuranic (TRU) nuclear waste – made up clothing materials, equipment and other byproducts irradiated during nuclear operations at Department of Energy facilities throughout the U.S. – is disposed of via burial at WIPP in an salt deposit about 2,000 feet underground.
Most recently on Aug. 23, records show an oily substance was found on an Idaho waste shipment, implying the six 100-gallon waste drums in the shipment were degraded, but was later found to be leaked hydraulic fluid or oil from equipment used to load the waste for shipment at the Idaho lab.
Earlier that month on Aug. 9, NMED reported another incident where a waste handling technician and an engineer found a waste box at the site sent from Los Alamos National Laboratory was missing a filter vent used to prevent particulate materials from escaping the drum, while it is allowed to release gas.
Another drum from Idaho National Laboratory was found to be smeared with a substance on Aug. 2, records show, that initially tested elevated radioactivity, per the Board’s monthly report, and the air inside the waste container was tested and showed elevated radiation levels, but no air contamination escaped from the payload and it was sent back to Idaho.
The first incident was reported on April 9 after WIPP waste handlers found a liquid on the surface of waste drums which later tested positive for radioactive contamination, pausing waste handling as the drums were decontaminated.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Radon gas causes air alerts at nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad
