Feds probe Los Alamos National Laboratory 'near-miss' incident
Federal officials will conduct an investigation into some workers’ health and safety practices at Los Alamos National Laboratory after an incident the Department of Energy is calling a “near-miss to a fatality” involving an employee this fall.
On Sept. 13, a worker entered a laboratory room that had insufficient oxygen, indicating a potential deficiency in the room’s “pressure system design.” The incident was classified as potentially life threatening to the worker, and a regulatory violation of lab building requirements and its emergency response protocol, according to a letter sent to outgoing lab Director Charles McMillan by the Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement.
Matt Nerzig, a spokesman for Los Alamos National Laboratory, said in an emailed statement that, “the worker and any other workers nearby were unharmed.”
“We are cooperating fully with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the National Nuclear Security Administration also said the agency expects the lab to “cooperate fully with this investigation,” which includes an on-site inspection, interviews with personnel and a review of laboratory documents.
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