Post by Logan on Jun 5, 2016 20:10:36 GMT -6
Radioactive material moved from Santa Fe to LANL; Flynn said could have been used in ‘dirty bomb’
LOS ALAMOS – A drum of highly radioactive material stood idle in a warehouse across from an elementary school on Santa Fe’s south side for more than 10 years, according to the state Environment Department, but state officials say that material is now safely at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Environment Department announced Thursday at LANL’s J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center that a drum with 2.1 grams of the synthetic radioactive element americium, which is typically used in household smoke detectors, was moved from a Thermo Fisher Scientific warehouse on 5981 Airport Road to a more secure facility at the laboratory. Gov. Susana Martinez was also in attendance to congratulate the 40-member team that transported the barrel on Feb. 21.
Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn said the element was secured at the Thermo Fisher facility, but said the department couldn’t bear to leave it in that location, which is across the street from Sweeney Elementary School and local businesses.
“It was stable and secure, but it was not in a location that we believed was ideal since it was in a residential area near a school,” Flynn said. “Nobody would want to keep material in that location for that long if they could find a better place for it. The company took extra steps to ensure that the facility where it was being stored was monitored by security round the clock, but this is highly radioactive material.”
Read more: www.abqjournal.com/785105/unsafe-material-moved-to-lanl.html
LOS ALAMOS – A drum of highly radioactive material stood idle in a warehouse across from an elementary school on Santa Fe’s south side for more than 10 years, according to the state Environment Department, but state officials say that material is now safely at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Environment Department announced Thursday at LANL’s J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center that a drum with 2.1 grams of the synthetic radioactive element americium, which is typically used in household smoke detectors, was moved from a Thermo Fisher Scientific warehouse on 5981 Airport Road to a more secure facility at the laboratory. Gov. Susana Martinez was also in attendance to congratulate the 40-member team that transported the barrel on Feb. 21.
Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn said the element was secured at the Thermo Fisher facility, but said the department couldn’t bear to leave it in that location, which is across the street from Sweeney Elementary School and local businesses.
“It was stable and secure, but it was not in a location that we believed was ideal since it was in a residential area near a school,” Flynn said. “Nobody would want to keep material in that location for that long if they could find a better place for it. The company took extra steps to ensure that the facility where it was being stored was monitored by security round the clock, but this is highly radioactive material.”
Read more: www.abqjournal.com/785105/unsafe-material-moved-to-lanl.html