DOE Fines Contractors For Nuke Safety Violations

The U.S. Department of Energy Wednesday said it would fine two operating contractors $288,750 for nuclear safety violations at its Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, and the Mound facility in Ohio.

The penalties, which become final in 30 days pending rebuttals from the contractors, allege that Babcock & Wilcox of Ohio, Inc. and Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp. broke safety rules mandated by the Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988.

A proposed $165,000 penalty against Babcock covers two problems at the Mound facility: miscalculations that impacted a bioassay program to monitor workers' internal radiation exposure, and a February 1998 incident when workers were unknowingly exposed to radiological conditions that exceeded their level of protection.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory was cited $123,750 for ongoing and repetitive failures to operate the High Flux Isotope Reactor within established safety margins.

Lockheed's penalty concerns a number of incidents between May 1997 and January 1998, which led to an unnecessary shutdown of the reactor for an extended period.

DOE alleged that Oak Ridge operator inattention led to an overflow of a cadmium nitrate tank that serves as an emergency reactor shutdown system, and that four unsafe reactor emergency cooling pump motors were relied upon for too long.

The 1998 amendments law directed DOE to develop and enforce nuclear safety rules with its contractors. Since the program started in 1996, the agency has issued 31 notices of violation and civil fines of more than $1.5 million.