Eleven potentially contaminated vortex coolers used in protective suits worn by Hanford Site workers were taken off-site, leading to surveys for radioactive contamination in three states last week. Two of the coolers were found to have small amounts of fixed contamination, but no spread of contamination was found in residential and commercial space, the Department of Energy said. Concerns were raised after a Plutonium Finishing Plant worker was found to have radioactive contamination on his elbow Dec. 10 after taking off an air-filled protective suit used for areas of the shuttered facility with high levels of airborne radioactive contamination. A survey of the shoebox-sized cooler for the air in his suit found it also was contaminated.
The investigation expanded to check other vortex coolers, including those held by the Hanford Fire Department, which services and repairs respirator-related equipment. The vortex coolers were used only for the air within the suit that creates a higher air pressure to protect workers and not the air they breathe using supplied air respirators. After four contaminated coolers were found in the fire department’s custody, all coolers were returned to the Plutonium Finishing Plant. In total, about 20 coolers at Hanford were found to be contaminated. A check of the fire department facility and workers there found no contamination.
On Dec. 14, Hanford officials learned that about two months earlier 11 coolers had been given to a salesman for Mine Safety Appliances for troubleshooting of mechanical issues. The salesman, who lives in the Tri-Cities near Hanford, still had three of them in the trunk of his car. Two of those were discovered to have small amounts of fixed, rather than “smearable,” contamination at low levels that did not to pose a threat to public health, according to the Washington State Department of Health, which investigated. The worker’s car, house, and storage unit were surveyed for any further contamination, with none found.
The remaining eight coolers had been shipped to a manufacturing plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, and then to an office in Pittsburgh, Pa., according to DOE. The department’s Radiological Assistance Program stepped in to check those coolers and survey the facilities, and found no contamination. “Out of an abundance of caution, the department has offered to perform bioassays for employees at the Cincinnati and Pittsburgh facilities to monitor for potential exposures,” said Erik Olds, the Richland Operations Office chief of staff, in a statement. No information was available late last week on whether any of those workers had requested monitoring. The eight vortex coolers will be returned to Hanford.
