Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charles McMillan has halted a number of activities at PF-4, the lab’s main plutonium facility, pending a thorough verification of safety procedures. All areas of PF-4 involved in processing nuclear materials and production have been placed on hold.
Projects affected will include plutonium work for the nuclear weapons program, work on plutonium power sources for NASA satellites and Rovers and plutonium-related work securing nuclear materials around the world.
The director’s decision was based on reviews at PF-4 and findings from recent assessments, according to an all-hands memo distributed to employees.
Last month, a safety review by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board identified several problems during an inspection of safeguards against inadvertent chain reactions in the handling and storage of nuclear materials. In one instance, safety board staff identified a prohibited material in a work station. In another situation, workers at the facility identified two containers in a vault that exceeded prescribed limits for the mass and class of materials they contained. During the same period, a worker was found to have been contaminated by a leak from a faulty plug during a pressure test of a glovebox, which is supposed to be a tightly sealed workspace for handling radiological materials. “Multiple infractions” were reported in one particular room from recent months, where operations were already suspended.
Fred deSousa, a LANL spokesman, said some activities might be suspended for several weeks, while others might only be held up for a week “in those areas where procedures are more mature and in better shape.” He said several hundred people work at PF-4, including support and maintenance personnel. Plutonium-handling employees will continue to work during that time, focusing on safety matters, rather than normal operations.
“We do not expect the pause to affect mission milestones, including those related to the B-61,” deSousa said, referring to the life extension program for one of the lab’s stockpile stewardship activities.
