[Increase] [Normal] [Decrease] Report finds major lapses in US nuclear weapons lab

A new report issued by the US Department of Energy has found several major weaknesses in Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Thu Oct 2, 2014 2:25PM GMT

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A new report issued by the US Department of Energy has found several major weaknesses in one of the primary nuclear weapons laboratories in the United States.

The report, made public Wednesday, indicated that not all of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s procedures were properly vetted and that the lab disposed of radioactive waste before shipping it for permanent storage to a facility in southern New Mexico.
The report reinforces the findings of internal investigations that at least one barrel of plutonium-tainted waste from the laboratory ruptured after being stored at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, America’s only underground waste repository.
The February 14 accident contaminated 22 workers and led to the indefinite shutdown of the underground dump, where radiological debris from US nuclear labs and weapons sites are disposed of a kilometer below ground.
"Our review identified several major deficiencies in LANL's procedures for the development and approval of waste packaging and remediation techniques that may have contributed to the radiological event," the Energy Department’s inspector general said.
The closing of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has caused a storage backup of radioactive materials.
The clean-up process could take as long as three years at an estimated cost of more than $500 million.
HRJ/HRJ