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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Nuclear officials told a citizen's advisory board recently that a minor accident last year temporarily shut down work at a cleanup site in eastern Idaho and exposed a staffer to low levels of radiation.
The accident Oct. 23 at the Idaho National Laboratory site came as workers repackaged nuclear waste, Idaho Cleanup Project spokesman Mark Brown said.
The problem started with the ventilation system and caused radioactive contamination to spread throughout the building, he said.
Monitors went off, and workers evacuated, though Brown, speaking for the contractor that runs the New Waste Calcining Facility, CH2M-WG, didn't say how many staffers were involved.
Decontamination efforts delayed work for seven weeks, and one worker was exposed to a small amount radiation, but not enough cause health problems, Brown said.
The April 8 summary before the INL Site Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board in Pocatello was the first public review of the accident, and officials have said it wasn't serious enough to require further reporting.
Brown said improvements already have been put in place, and the facility has been back on line for months.
Still, Susan Burke, of the state Environmental Quality Department, said she would have liked to have been notified sooner.
"I think on a discussion level, yes, that would have been helpful," she said. "The more communication you can have with another entity, usually the smoother things are."
Calls from The Associated Press seeking comment from Brown and various federal officials Thursday weren't returned.
The advisory board is a federally appointed citizens' panel that offers advice and recommendations to the U.S. Energy Department's environmental management program at the 890-square-mile facility.
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