Three workers at a Westinghouse plant in South Carolina were briefly hospitalized last week after reporting an “unusual taste in their mouths” while handling equipment contaminated with hydrofluoric acid.
The incident occurred Oct. 14 at the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility, according to an Oct. 16 event notification report submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). There was no radioactive material involved, and no impact to workers or the environment was discovered.
“The area around the equipment was monitored for airborne concentration levels of HF with no readings approaching any safety limits in the immediate or adjoining areas,” Westinghouse said in its report to the NRC. “Access to the area is controlled, and the equipment remains shutdown pending completion of maintenance activities and appropriate testing before return to operation.”
Westinghouse did not immediately respond to questions on the incident, including where on-site the event occurred, if other workers were involved, and how hydrofluoric acid is used at the plant. Westinghouse told the NRC that the employees were conducting work that is not done on a routine basis, according to agency spokesman Roger Hannah. He could not elaborate on the nature of the work or provide further details about the incident.
“The vented tank adjacent to the work contained a higher concentration of HF than usual due to the preparation activities for this non-routine maintenance,” Hannah wrote in an email on Wednesday. “All employees were released from the hospital within 24 hours with no work restrictions. There were no health or safety consequences to the public or the environment.”
One worker did receive additional treatment, separate from the other two, but it is unclear what that involved.
The NRC is investigating the event, which also required Westinghouse to file a report with the South Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
This is the latest of multiple safety-related incidents this year at the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility, a 550,000-square-foot plant in Hopkins, S.C., about 15 miles southeast of Columbia. The facility has been producing nuclear fuel for power plants since 1969.
