Contamination Hits 7 Hanford Workers

Seven Hanford workers received radioactive contamination when the breathing apparatus on one worker’s protective suit failed and co-workers came to his aid, the nuclear reservation’s operations contractor said Tuesday.

The workers had been performing decontamination work Monday and were leaving a pipe tunnel beneath a laboratory near the center of the 560-square-mile nuclear reservation, said Mike Berriochoa, a spokesman for Westinghouse Hanford Co.

The workers had begun removing their protective clothing when one worker’s air supply hood apparently failed, cutting off his air, Berriochoa said.

Several co-workers helped the man remove his protective clothing and breathing apparatus, receiving contamination on their upper torsos in the process, Berriochoa said.

Five workers were decontaminated at the laboratory above the tunnel, he said. Two others were decontaminated at an emergency decontamination center in Richland.

None of the workers received any internal contamination. Their names were not released.