The Pantex Plant is bolstering its procedures after an instrument technician was exposed to a “higher than anticipated” radiation dose while doing maintenance work in a nuclear materials storage building. The unidentified worker was exposed Jan. 23 while performing maintenance in a Special Nuclear Materials Storage Facility at Pantex.
George Rangel, a spokesman for Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security, said the worker’s exposure was well below regulatory limits, but that the plant took a series of corrective steps after the worker’s exposure. “Upon learning of the incident, immediate actions were taken to re-emphasize with workers the importance of adhering to procedures and work package instructions, providing additional training to supervisors and involving radiation safety experts before proceeding with similar types of work that may be planned in other areas of the plant to ensure worker safety,” Rangel said. “This specific worker’s annual exposure for the end of January measured less than 1/100th of the annual (federal) regulatory limit, which is 5,000 milirem per year.”
According to information from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the technician was working on a ladder calibrating heat monitoring systems as part of a yearly surveillance. According to an incident report, the worker was performing extra maintenance beyond the scope of an initial work order. “While performing this activity, the work team decided to remove some unused instrument wires from the facility. Both of these activities require the technician to be on a ladder, and they decided it would be best to accomplish both activities at the same time. … This increased the exposure time for the technician.”
