Los Alamos nuclear facility safe after evacuation order

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — Officials at the Los Alamos National Laboratory ordered a partial evacuation of a nuclear research building after a report of a bulging hazardous waste drum. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the lab officials called for the evacuation Monday afternoon. The order was ended later in the day and the drum, which did not contain radiological waste, had been rendered safe. Laboratory personnel and the Los Alamos Fire Department responded to the Sigma Facility on the lab's main campus, about two miles from the city center. Greg Mello, director of the Los Alamos Study Group, a frequent lab critic, said bulging drums have become a "perennial problem" at the laboratory and other nuclear facilities.