Panel: Nuclear contamination found on worker at weapons lab

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — An independent safety panel discovered radioactive contamination on a worker's hands and other places at a nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico — the latest safety lapse at the facility as it ramps up work with nuclear material.
All pipefitting work was paused after a crew had to be stripped and decontaminated on May 16 because of the discovery at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of the atomic bomb, according to weekly briefings from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
Contamination was also found on the crew's protective clothing and in a work area, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported .
The briefings also show members of another crew placed plutonium salts in a prohibited area.
The lapses are the latest in a series of radiation releases and operational mistakes at Los Alamos, which was recently tasked with building at least 30 plutonium cores a year that are used to trigger nuclear weapons.
Producing the cores is dangerous work and meticulous safety rules are intended to prevent a runaway chain reaction.
Problems complying with the rules prompted a shutdown of the lab for more than a year in 2013.
Since January, there have been six instances in which the safety board reported a contamination event at Los Alamos.
The board noted that the event last month involving the pipefitters was similar to a contamination event last September. In both cases, workers were installing piping on a box with attached gloves used to manipulate nuclear elements.
The lab said the pipefitters in the latest event did not receive a measurable dose of radiation.
The lab also said the incident with plutonium salts did not result in a significant safety risk to workers or the public.
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board monitors federal nuclear installations around the U.S.
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com