Battelle Energy Alliance is facing a penalty of $168,750 for an incident that occurred at the Idaho National Laboratory in early 2013 that resulted in a researcher suffering second- and third-degree burns. Late last week, the Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement issued BEA a preliminary notice of violation, outlining four Severity Level 1 violations and one Severity Level 2 violation of the Department’s worker safety regulations. The incident occurred during a “sparger testing event” at INL’s Engineering Demonstration Facility. “The sparger test involved injecting steam into a bath of molten salt inside a reactor vessel. During the test, an unexpected increase in pressure in the steam line prompted researchers to open the access panel in the test enclosure to adjust the pump flow and reduce the pressure. The excessive pressure in the line vented into the molten salt bath, forcing molten salt and steam out the top of the reactor vessel and striking and severely burning a researcher,” the preliminary notice of violation states.
DOE deemed the incident to be of “high safety significance,” wrote Office of Enforcement Director Steven Simonson in an attached letter. “DOE’s evaluation of the circumstances concluded that BEA did not apply rigor and formality to work planning, control, execution, and oversight at a level commensurate with the hazards and risks associated with the scope of work for the sparger test,” Simonson wrote. “BEA used a laboratory work control document that did not provide sufficient details regarding the complexity of the test, the potential hazards, and the operational safety of the work activity. As a result, responsible BEA management was not aware of the hazards and mitigating measures.”
However, while DOE initially had proposed a fine of $337,500, the Department chose to cut the final proposed penalty in half due to the corrective actions BEA has taken. “DOE has concluded that BEA’s corrective action plan appears to address the deficiencies identified in the March 2013 BEA accident Investigation team report and the violations cited in this PNOV,” Simonson wrote. “DOE recognizes BEA’s substantial progress in strengthening processes for identifying and controlling hazards and for reviewing and revising institutional procedures related to work planning and control, work oversight, training , and pre-job briefings to ensure that workers are properly equipped to meet BEA’s expectations for work performance.”