Beryllium results awaited at NLV site

Friday, March 8, 2002 | 10:08 a.m.

Department of Energy officials say they expect to know by early next week whether a local National Nuclear Security Administration building is free of beryllium dust in the wake of a worker being diagnosed with chronic beryllium disease.

"We do not believe the building (off Losee Road north of Lake Mead Boulevard) was the source, but the important thing now is to make sure employees in the building have a safe working environment," said Darwin Morgan of the DOE, which oversees the site.

"We expect to get the test results back by Monday, Tuesday at the latest."

The building, which is continuing operations during testing, is an office complex used by about 125 contract workers. However, prior to 1994 it was a machine shop, where springs and switches, made from copper that contained 2 percent beryllium, were produced, Morgan said. Inhalation of dust from beryllium metal can cause an incurable but treatable lung disease characterized by a scarring of lung tissue.

Morgan declined to release details about the worker, saying only that the person has been a contract employee for about 10 years and also has worked at the Nevada Test Site, where similar tests for beryllium will be conducted.