Hanford Operators Levied $90,000 Safety Fine By State Department Of Energy, Fluor Daniel And Lab Contractor Ruled At Fault
The state has fined operators of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation $90,000 for their failure to fix inadequate safety procedures at a laboratory.
The penalty against the Department of Energy, Fluor Daniel Hanford and Rust Federal Services of Hanford Inc. is the second-largest state fine in Hanford history.
The Department of Ecology levied the fine against the 222-S lab, which studies radioactive wastes from Hanford’s underground tanks.
After an accident last September in which acid was sprayed about a lab room, Ecology inspectors noted several safety violations.
At the time, Westinghouse Hanford Co. ran the lab. Fluor Daniel became the site’s new manager on Oct. 1, with Rust subcontracted to operate the lab.
The Department of Energy, Fluor and Rust sent a letter to Ecology on Feb. 3 saying the procedural flaws had been corrected. But Ecology officials inspected the lab Feb. 13 and concluded problems still existed.
Consequently, the state issued the fine: $9,000 a day for 10 days.
“That’s because it would have had a very serious impact on human health,” said Mike Wilson, director of Ecology’s nuclear waste program.
Another reason for the stiff fine is that Hanford took nine months in 1995 and 1996 to correct the last major safety violation, involving storage of potentially explosive chemicals.
“We found this to be a repeat of the same type of behavior,” Wilson said.
In the September incident, a worker added nitric acid to alcohol inside a protective hood. The combination caused the solution to erupt and spray acid through arm holes in the hood. No one was injured.
The lab overhauled its procedures and retrained 150 chemists and technicians, said Charles Hansen, the Department of Energy’s Hanford assistant manager for waste management.
The overhaul is complete, and the lab is being operated safely, Hansen said.
No decision has been made on whether to appeal the fine.
Including the latest fine, Ecology has issued fines six times since 1992 over Hanford operations, for a total of $237,500.
The largest fine - $100,000 - was levied against Westinghouse a few years ago for failing to properly identify the contents of at least 2,000 barrels of wastes.