The Los Alamos National Laboratory has reportedly fired an employee following the finding that special nuclear material was mistakenly been shipped by air cargo instead of by ground, in violation of federal regulations.
The National Nuclear Security Administration said late last month that LANL shipped the material to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina; the shipment to Livermore involved 100 grams of plutonium. The NNSA said no radioactive material was lost and no environmental contamination took place. Still, agency Administrator Frank Klotz in a statement called it “absolutely unacceptable.”
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Monday that Juan Montoya, a shipping employee at the lab, was fired as a result of the incident, and that the lab took disciplinary action against other employees involved.
A laboratory spokesman did not comment on the specific personnel situation but said by email that “all of those involved from the individual contributor level up the management chain have been held accountable through actions that include terminations, suspensions, and compensation consequences.”
“In the days and weeks ahead, we will be putting into place Laboratory-wide measures to significantly reduce the likelihood of similar events occurring,” the spokesman said, adding that responsibility for fissile nuclear material shipments is being transferred to a different organization at the lab.
The incident remains under investigation. The lab’s packaging and transportation operations manager is expected to prepare a report for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
