At least five glove-box breaches occurred at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in late March through mid-April, though none of the incidents resulted in worker skin contamination or otherwise compromised their health, according to two reports from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. 

Two of the breaches at the lab’s PF-4 Plutonium Facility occurred in the week prior to April 21. Three more happened in the “past few weeks” leading up to an April 14 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) report. Exchange Monitor reached out to Los Alamos, but a lab spokesperson did not immediately comment. 

“In all cases, there was no skin contamination or evidence of an uptake, and the involved workers discovered the breaches immediately following contamination surveys upon exiting glovebox gloves,” the DNFSB said of the three earlier incidents. 

Neither of the later breaches “resulted in skin contamination or indication of any uptake. Workers identified one following a radiological survey performed immediately upon exiting the glovebox gloves, and the other was discovered following radiological monitoring at the laboratory room exit. Facility management is including further evaluation of these events into the ongoing evaluation of three other recent glovebox glove breaches.” 

Los Alamos personnel held a meeting the week of April 14 to discuss the glovebox breaches, evaluate whether there were any commonalities between the events, and develop actions to prevent future incidents. 

One event involved repetitive motion using a hand pump. Workers believed that caused undue wear on the glove. Los Alamos staff are replacing that manual operation with an automated system, according to the DNFSB.

“This is a relatively new activity, so personnel are also evaluating appropriate glove replacement timing as more data is gathered,” the report said. “Another event involved vigorous wire brushing of a part which is an infrequent activity. Evaluation of increased overglove usage and reinforcement of using tabs when taping items are potential corrective actions related to that breach.”