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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

State Levies $110,000 Fine In Hanford Blast Department Of Energy, Two Contractors Penalized Following 4-Month Investigation

Mark Jewell Associated Press

The state will fine the U.S. Department of Energy and two Hanford Nuclear Reservation contractors a total of $110,000 over a chemical explosion in May at a plutonium plant, a state Department of Ecology official said Thursday night.

The fine, to be formally announced today, follows a four-month state investigation into the May 14 blast at the Plutonium Finishing Plant, said Mike Wilson, manager of the department’s nuclear waste program.

The penalty is the largest the state has ever assessed involving Hanford operations.

The fine is intended to send a message on the importance of emergency preparedness and proper storage of hazardous chemicals at the nuclear reservation, Wilson said.

“This was a very serious accident,” he said. “Unfortunately, it was the latest in a series of incidents which can be traced directly to chemical management at Hanford.

“As a result of this event, Ecology anticipates some substantial improvements in emergency preparedness and chemical management.”

The Energy Department and the two contractors - Fluor Daniel Hanford Inc., Hanford’s lead contractor, and Babcock and Wilcox Hanford Co., the manager of the Plutonium Finishing Plant - have 30 days to decide whether to appeal the fine, Wilson said.

Messages left after business hours Thursday at the Energy Department’s Richland office and the contractors’ offices were not returned.

The blast blew the lid off a 400-gallon chemical tank, one of thousands at Hanford.

Two Energy Department investigations have found numerous mistakes led to the explosion and a poor emergency response.

Investigators have concluded the blast occurred after two chemicals - nitric acid and hydroxylamine nitrate - were left in a tank for four years and became volatile as a result of evaporation, leaving an unstable mixture.

The explosion blasted off doors, drove a metal shaft into the ceiling of the fourth-floor room where the blast occurred and split open the building’s roof.

The explosion also broke a water line. The Energy Department has said water swept traces of deadly plutonium outside, but insists there was no significant release of radioactivity.

A chemical plume escaped the building, and eight workers who may have been exposed to it were treated at a local emergency room.

Some have since complained of rashes, mental confusion and irritability. Hanford officials have agreed to monitor their symptoms.

Energy Department officials concluded the workers did not receive prompt medical care and also said that off-site emergency management officials did not learn of the emergency in a timely manner.

The Energy Department says it has revised its emergency notification procedures and is revising the way it handles chemical hazards affecting workers. Hanford contractors also were ordered to review stores of chemical wastes and prepare a plan to manage the chemicals.