uranium 859
Grand Canyon tourists exposed to radiation, safety manager says
2 days ago by yorksranter
One of the buckets was so full that its lid would not close.
Stephenson said the containers were stored next to a taxidermy exhibit, where children on tours sometimes stopped for presentations, sitting next to uranium for 30 minutes or more. By his calculation, those children could have received radiation dosages in excess of federal safety standards within three seconds, and adults could have suffered dangerous exposure in less than a half-minute.
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oops
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Stephenson said the containers were stored next to a taxidermy exhibit, where children on tours sometimes stopped for presentations, sitting next to uranium for 30 minutes or more. By his calculation, those children could have received radiation dosages in excess of federal safety standards within three seconds, and adults could have suffered dangerous exposure in less than a half-minute.
2 days ago by yorksranter
Grand Canyon tourists exposed to radiation, safety manager says • AZ Central
3 days ago by charlesarthur
Dennis Wagner:
At no point explained: what the hell the buckets were doing there.
radiation
uranium
exposure
<p>For nearly two decades at the Grand Canyon, tourists, employees, and children on tours passed by three paint buckets stored in the National Park's museum collection building, unaware that they were being exposed to radiation.
Although federal officials learned last year that the 5-gallon containers were brimming with uranium ore, then removed the radioactive specimens, the park's safety director alleges nothing was done to warn park workers or the public that they might have been exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.
In a rogue email sent to all Park Service employees on Feb. 4, Elston "Swede" Stephenson — the safety, health and wellness manager — described the alleged cover-up as "a top management failure" and warned of possible health consequences.
"If you were in the Museum Collections Building (2C) between the year 2000 and June 18, 2018, you were 'exposed' to uranium by OSHA's definition," Stephenson wrote. "The radiation readings, at first blush, exceeds (sic) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's safe limits. … Identifying who was exposed, and your exposure level, gets tricky and is our next important task."…
…Stephenson said the uranium threat was discovered in March 2018 by the teenage son of a park employee who happened to be a Geiger counter enthusiast, and brought a device to the museum collection room…
…The report indicated radiation levels at "13.9 mR/hr" where the buckets were stored, and "800 mR/hr" on contact with the ore. Just 5 feet from the buckets, there was a zero reading. The abbreviation, "mR" typically stands for milliroentgen, a measurement roughly equivalent to a millirem, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The NRC says average radiation exposure in the United States from natural sources is 300 millirems per year at sea level, or 400 at high altitude.
The commission lists a maximum safe dosage for the public, beyond natural radiation, is no more than 2 millirems per hour, or 100 per year.</p>
At no point explained: what the hell the buckets were doing there.
3 days ago by charlesarthur
Grand Canyon tourists exposed for years to radiation in museum building, safety manager says
3 days ago by dchas
For nearly two decades at the Grand Canyon, tourists, employees, and children on tours passed by three paint buckets stored in the National Park's museum collection building, unaware that they were being exposed to radiation.
Although federal officials learned last year that the 5-gallon containers were brimming with uranium ore, then removed the radioactive specimens, the park's safety director alleges nothing was done to warn park workers or the public that they might have been exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.
In a rogue email sent to all Park Service employees on Feb. 4, Elston "Swede" Stephenson — the safety, health and wellness manager — described the alleged cover-up as "a top management failure" and warned of possible health consequences.
"If you were in the Museum Collections Building (2C) between the year 2000 and June 18, 2018, you were 'exposed' to uranium by OSHA's definition," Stephenson wrote. "The radiation readings, at first blush, exceeds (sic) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's safe limits. … Identifying who was exposed, and your exposure level, gets tricky and is our next important task."
In a Feb. 11 email to Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall, Stephenson said he had repeatedly asked National Park executives to inform the public, only to get stonewalled.
us_AZ
public
discovery
environmental
radiation
uranium
Although federal officials learned last year that the 5-gallon containers were brimming with uranium ore, then removed the radioactive specimens, the park's safety director alleges nothing was done to warn park workers or the public that they might have been exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.
In a rogue email sent to all Park Service employees on Feb. 4, Elston "Swede" Stephenson — the safety, health and wellness manager — described the alleged cover-up as "a top management failure" and warned of possible health consequences.
"If you were in the Museum Collections Building (2C) between the year 2000 and June 18, 2018, you were 'exposed' to uranium by OSHA's definition," Stephenson wrote. "The radiation readings, at first blush, exceeds (sic) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's safe limits. … Identifying who was exposed, and your exposure level, gets tricky and is our next important task."
In a Feb. 11 email to Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall, Stephenson said he had repeatedly asked National Park executives to inform the public, only to get stonewalled.
3 days ago by dchas
Following regs could have prevented barrel explosion
november 2018 by dchas
U.S. Department of Energy cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho has issued a report on the causes of the transuranic waste drums that blew their lids off last April at the Idaho National Laboratory’s Radioactive Waste Management Complex. And that report blows the lid off the DOE’s excuses about the accident.w
If DOE regulations and hazardous waste laws, including the state-issued RCRA permit, had been complied with, the accident would not have happened. And numerous opportunities were missed for Fluor Idaho to learn that they were playing fire — finely divided uranium more susceptible to serious oxidation than the more commonly encountered form of uranium from the Rocky Flats weapons plant called “roaster oxide.”
A fire had occurred last December when a waste container with this form of uranium was opened at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility. And despite this, a drum known to contain large amounts of the same form of uranium was sent to the Accelerated Retrieval Project V fabric enclosure despite its RCRA permit forbidding such material.
The drums that one by one expelled their powdery radioactive contents throughout the ARP V enclosure just hours after workers had gone home.
The first smoldering drum set off fire alarms. The fire department responded, but because of radiation monitor malfunction, they were unaware that radioactive airborne contamination inside the fabric tension membrane enclosure was far above normal. Radiological control personnel came to assist the firefighters 43 minutes after requested. The responders had inadequate knowledge of the materials in the drums which also hampered their efforts.
us_ID
laboratory
follow-up
environmental
dust
radiation
uranium
waste
If DOE regulations and hazardous waste laws, including the state-issued RCRA permit, had been complied with, the accident would not have happened. And numerous opportunities were missed for Fluor Idaho to learn that they were playing fire — finely divided uranium more susceptible to serious oxidation than the more commonly encountered form of uranium from the Rocky Flats weapons plant called “roaster oxide.”
A fire had occurred last December when a waste container with this form of uranium was opened at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility. And despite this, a drum known to contain large amounts of the same form of uranium was sent to the Accelerated Retrieval Project V fabric enclosure despite its RCRA permit forbidding such material.
The drums that one by one expelled their powdery radioactive contents throughout the ARP V enclosure just hours after workers had gone home.
The first smoldering drum set off fire alarms. The fire department responded, but because of radiation monitor malfunction, they were unaware that radioactive airborne contamination inside the fabric tension membrane enclosure was far above normal. Radiological control personnel came to assist the firefighters 43 minutes after requested. The responders had inadequate knowledge of the materials in the drums which also hampered their efforts.
november 2018 by dchas
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