13 Exposed To Radiation At New Mexico Nuclear Waste Dump

 Huffpost Green

 | by  JERI CLAUSING

Posted: 02/27/2014 10:29 am EST Updated: 02/27/2014 10:59 am EST

Machinery sits in one of the underground tunnels that will used to transport nuclear waste to be stored in underground chambers at WIPP, the controversial nuclear waste dump site in New Mexico. | Joe Raedle via Getty Images


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Employees who were working at the nation's underground nuclear waste dump when it started leaking didn't show signs of external contamination, but officials say biological samples show 13 workers suffered some exposure to radiation.
The U.S. Department of Energy and the contractor that runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Project declined to comment further on the preliminary test results announced Wednesday, saying they'll discuss the issue at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
"It is important to note that these are initial sample results," the DOE and Nuclear Waste Partnership, the plant operator, said in a joint statement. "These employees, both federal and contractor, will be asked to provide additional samples in order to fully determine the extent of any exposure."
All employees who were working at the southeastern New Mexico plant when the leak occurred late Feb. 14 were checked for contamination before being allowed to leave, the news release said. But biological samples were also taken to check for possible exposure from inhaling radioactive particles.
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New Mexico radiation leak raises concerns

MATTHEW DALY, SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press February 28, 2014 8:45 PM

FILE – This undated file aerial photo shows the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. Back-to-back accidents and a never-supposed-to-happen above-ground radiation release have shuttered the federal government’s only deep underground nuclear waste dump indefinitely, raising questions about a cornerstone of the Department of Energy’s $5 billion-a year-program for cleaning up legacy waste scattered across the country from decades of nuclear bomb making. Thirteen workers have tested positive for radiation exposure after a recent leak. (AP Photo/Carlsbad Current Argus, File)

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The radiation exposure of at least 13 workers at a nuclear dump in a New Mexico salt bed more than 2,000 feet below the ground has brought new attention to the nation’s long struggle to find places to dispose of tons of Cold War-era waste.

The above-ground radiation release that exposed the workers during a night shift two weeks ago shut down the facility as authorities investigate the cause and attempt to determine the health effects on the employees. The mishap has also raised questions about a cornerstone of the Department of Energy’s $5-billion-a-year program for cleaning up waste scattered across the country from decades of nuclear-bomb making.
With operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant on hold, so are all shipments, including the last of nearly 4,000 barrels of toxic waste that Los Alamos National Laboratory has been ordered to remove from its campus by the end of June. Other waste from labs in Idaho, Illinois and South Carolina is also without a home while operations are halted.


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