Cleanup project investigation underway
Fluor Idaho has disclosed that a three-person team re-entered the Accelerated Retrieval Project V (ARP V) facility last Thursday to collect data from an April 11 drum breach.
Crew members wore sealed radiological suits with supplied air. Once inside, they took smear samples for radiological analysis, reset constant air monitors within the area, and inspected the ruptured, 55-gallon waste drum and nearby drums. Thee other drums had their lids ejected due to excessive pressure.
There were no injuries or external release of radioactive material during the original incident.
According to Fluor Idaho, waste from the incident was likely sent to Idaho in the late 1960’s from the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado. The facility has repackaged approximately 9,500 drums of sludge-contaminated waste since 2012. The plant’s mission is to characterize the waste, remove liquids and prohibited items from the waste to prepare it for certification and shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for permanent disposal.
The waste drums from the April 11 incident had been processed earlier that day. They were repackaged and staged for several hours before the breach occurred. None of the drums had completed final characterization, treatment or the certification process required for shipment to WIPP.
Plans are underway to re-enter the building to gather additional samples of material and other bulk samples for further analysis.
The Department of Energy and Fluor Idaho have resumed a regular shipping schedule after confirming that none of the waste certified for shipment was related to the waste stream involved in the incident.
Fluor Idaho said the ARP V facility was designed to contain any contamination inside the building. It has a negative air flow, which pulls air from the outside and channels all exhaust through the facility’s particulate air (HEPA) filters, which traps contaminants.
