An iPad burst into flames for about 30 seconds at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site near Richland, Wash., after a technician with contractor Mission Support Alliance attempted to remove the device’s lithium ion battery, according to an accident report posted online June 30.
“While a technician was attempting to remove batteries from an iPad, one of the batteries began to smoke and caught fire and then self-extinguished after about 30 seconds,” Mission Support Alliance wrote in the report posted to DOE’s Operating Experience Lessons Learned, Best Practices website: a social hub where workers share their experiences with close calls at various DOE jobs.
The iPad in the incident was broken and being prepared for disposal, a spokesperson for Mission Support Alliance wrote in a Wednesday email. As part of that process “hard drives and memory cards are removed and destroyed,” the spokesperson wrote. The batteries are then recycled after they are separated from the iPad’s chassis.
No one was hurt, the report says. The workbench where the attempted servicing took place did not catch fire, although it could have, Mission Support Alliance warned in the report. The support services contractor also cautioned readers to “be aware of the potential hazards associated with recycling of lithium ion batteries.”
