Nuclear testing device report is ready for public scrutiny

Thursday, March 1, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

A Department of Energy plan to move a device that will help test the safety of the nation's nuclear stockpile to the Nevada Test Site is one step closer with the release of an environmental impact report.

The details of the impacts on air, water sources, plants and animals at the 1-acre site about 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, are included in a 58-page environmental assessment released this week and ready for public review until March 31.

The DOE plans to remove the device, called the Atlas, from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and reassemble it in a new building at the Test Site. The move allows an expansion of the experiment and would cost less.

The facility could conduct up to 100 pulsed-power experiments a year, roughly one or two per week, as a way to ensure nuclear weapons safety. The machinery tests the metals and does not involve nuclear materials. It would employ 15 people.

The new building would be designed to withstand both earthquakes and any future underground nuclear weapons experiments at the Test Site, the assessment said.

Less than 110,000 gallons of water will be used.

The worst accident envisioned is electrocution of a worker from a high-energy power source or injury from the collapse of an on-site overhead crane, with an occurrence of once in 100 years.

A possible fire at the facility could occur once in 10,000 years.

Minute quantities of metals used during experiments would vaporize and be deposited on the inside of the target chamber. No air filters or scrubbers are needed, because outside air would not be exposed until workers entered the chamber for cleanup.

Some of the metal targets and solvents are considered hazardous under federal and state environmental laws. Small amounts of lead, beryllium and depleted uranium could be released as metal dust from the chamber after an experiment.

Workers will wear respiratory protection, the DOE's assessment said, because the depleted uranium poses a slight radiation risk if inhaled. Solvents such as ethanol are expected to evaporate. Adequate ventilation and breathing protection will be used.

Electrical hazards, magnetic fields and X-rays are other possible risks to workers, especially those wearing pacemakers. Sensitive individuals would be removed from the experiment area. X-rays would not escape the facility.

The impact document is available for review and comment on file at the DOE's public reading facility, 2621 Losee Road, North Las Vegas. Hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The document may also be downloaded at nv.doe.gov.