Four workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state received medical evaluations for potential exposure to chemical vapors over the last week, according to waste tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions.
In the most recent incident, three workers reported suspicious odors Thursday morning outside the AW Tank Farm, where supplied-air respirators are not required as protection against chemical vapors waste in storage. They were in the area for work to extend an exhauster stack. One worker reported symptoms consistent with chemical vapor exposure. That worker and another received medical checks, and the third worker declined a medical evaluation.
Two other Hanford workers received medical evaluations after one developed symptoms the evening of June 15, according to WRPS. The two workers were in the airlock of the 242-A Evaporator pump storage room when an odor was detected. They were performing work related to valves for the planned startup of an evaporation campaign at the facility to reduce the liquid waste in double-shell tanks. Because the 242-A Evaporator is not in a tank farm, the workers were not required to wear supplied air respirators.
In both incidents, the areas were cleared of workers, and WRPS industrial hygiene technicians checked for chemical vapors. When they found no evidence of chemicals above background levels, access to the areas were restored, according to WRPS. Workers were released to return to work after their medical evaluations. The evaporator campaign remains on schedule to start as soon as June 22 and continue for a couple weeks, according to WRPS.
Before the June incidents, workers had most recently reported suspicious odors on two days in February, once outside the SY Tank Farm and once inside the 702-AZ exhauster building. The workers declined medical evaluations.
The Hanford Site stores 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste in underground tanks, a legacy of the site’s history as a plutonium production complex for the U.S. nuclear deterrent. Exposure to vapors from the waste has been a long-term concern: DOE is now trying to settle a lawsuit filed by Washington state and other plaintiffs demanding increased worker safety.
