DOE Launches Safety Investigation at Pacific Northwest National Lab

The Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement is gearing up to launch an investigation into potential violations of DOE regulations at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The investigation could lead to financial penalties for the lab’s managing contractor, Battelle Memorial Institute. The investigation will examine “the facts and circumstances associated with potential deficiencies in Battelle Memorial Institute’s (Battelle) implementation of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program,” DOE Office of Enforcement Director Steven Simonson wrote in a June 24 letter to PNNL Director Michael Kluse. The letter adds, “Battelle reported noncompliances in the DOE noncompliance Tracking System under NTS-PNSO–PNNL-PNNLBOPER-2014-0001 – Management Concern Related to Beryllium Monitoring.”

PNNL is working to take action to address concerns identified with its beryllium program, lab spokeswoman Susan Bauer said in a written response yesterday. “Earlier this year, we identified significant deficiencies with our beryllium program. PNNL takes this very seriously and our first concern is for our workers,” Bauer said. “PNNL reported our findings to DOE and immediately established interim protective actions to assure ongoing work at PNNL is conducted safely for all workers. We have completed a causal analysis, a compliance assessment and are implementing a comprehensive corrective action plan to address all program deficiencies.”