October 08, 2014

Sandia Not Penalized for 2011 Explosion at Plasma Materials Test Facility

By ExchangeMonitor

Sandia National Laboratories was not fined for a 2011 explosion in a building at its Plasma Materials Test Facility, according to a Preliminary Notice of Violation recently issued by the National Nuclear Security Administration. Workers in the facility narrowly avoided serious injury or death, according to the NNSA, but the agency waived $412,500 in penalties because of the corrective actions that have been put into place at the lab since the event, though the NNSA compared the incident to the 2008 sled track accident that left one worker with a broken leg. “NNSA is particularly encouraged by the significant and positive steps being taken in recent months to improve Sandia’s safety culture, and the degree of personal involvement by Sandia leadership,” NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz wrote in a Sept. 25 letter to Sandia Director Paul Hommert.

The incident took place Aug. 26, 2011, in Building 6530 of the lab’s Plasma Materials Test Facility, a concrete and metal building surrounded by a dirt embankment on three sides. Employees were setting up a lithium-helium heat exchanger experiment related to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor being built in France when molten lithium came into contact with water, creating a brief explosion and a fire in a vacuum test chamber. The explosion damaged the vacuum chamber, wall siding and an exterior building door. Four workers were sent for medical evaluation, but there were no injuries beyond ringing in the ears.

A Department of Energy investigation revealed violations for hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and abatement, safety and health standards, training and information, management responsibilities, pressure safety, and occupational medicine. Four of the violations were categorized as Severity Level I violations, the most serious violation, and three were considered Severity Level II violations. Sandia spokesman Jim Danneskiold said the lab used lessons learned from the incident to make improvements to its safety guidelines, including revising its Work Planning and Control Manual to include Engineered Safety principles. The lab “continues to transform its safety culture and practices to encompass all technical and administrative work performed at the lab,” Danneskiold said. “Undertaking such a comprehensive and fundamental change takes time to implement and perfect. Sandia continues to improve its operations and develop better safety practices and process documentation.”

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