A March incident where a subcontractor at the Paducah Site in Kentucky might have been overexposed to a chemical will trigger an internal investigation at the Department of Energy, , according to a notice from the agency’s Office of Enterprise Assessments.
On Aug. 21, the office notified Atkins-led Mid-America Conversion Services and two of its subcontractors, Construction Safety Consultants and Omni Services, of plans to investigate worker safety issues within the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Facility.
On March 9, a worker experienced symptoms of potential overexposure to toluene while applying adhesive inside tank 552 at Paducah, according to the DOE letter to Mid-America Conversion Services President Dutch Conrad.
Two similar letters were sent by the director of the Office of Enforcement, Anthony Pierpoint, to the presidents of Paducah-based Construction Safety Consultants and Tennessee-based Omni Services.
Toluene is a common ingredient in degreasers and is also found in crude oil and various products such as paint thinners and stain removers. Overexposure could cause headaches, fatigue, dizziness, nausea or other symptoms, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Mid-America is contracted by DOE to run conversion facilities at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion and the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plants in Kentucky and Ohio that convert the weapons complex DUF6 inventory into a more stable uranium oxide form for reuse, storage, transport and eventual disposal.
