Sandia National Laboratories’ Ion Beam Laboratory reopened late Wednesday after tritium levels spiked inside a glove bag on Monday and prompted an evacuation, the Albuquerque, N.M.-based lab said.
“On Monday, Jan. 16, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories were performing work to characterize tritium samples inside of a confinement glovebag at the Ion Beam Laboratory. Workers identified tritium airborne contamination levels above expected operational values within the prescribed confinement and stopped work,” a Sandia spokesperson wrote Wednesday evening in an email.
Non-essential personnel had evacuated the Ion Beam Lab by about 8 p.m. Eastern time on Monday. The lab remained closed to non-essential personnel until around 9 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the Sandia spokesperson said.
Nobody was injured or exposed to radiation during the incident, the spokesperson said. The tritium inside the glove bag — a container with built-in gloves that allows personnel to safely work with hazardous or radioactive material — apparently did not leak into the room, the spokesperson said.
“The transport container and confinement glovebag are in a safe state and the team has completed an approved recovery plan and is now in process of completing the recovery,” the spokesperson said. Assisting with the recovery after the evacuation were the Ion Beam Laboratory’s research team, radiation protection personnel and emergency response personnel.
Among other things, the Ion Beam Laboratory has been used to test the radiation sensitivity of integrated circuits and other materials and to certify that neutron-generator components are suitable for use in deployed nuclear weapons. Ion beams shoot electrically charged particles in a controlled stream.
