Test Site workers screened for beryllium

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003 | 9:02 a.m.

Anyone who worked at least one year from 1951 to 1992 in areas at the Nevada Test Site where nuclear weapons experiments were conducted, or at the North Las Vegas Atlas complex on Losee Road, may be eligible for free medical screenings.

More than 9,000 workers have been contacted and almost 3,000 have been screened for possible exposure to asbestos, silica dust, radiation, diesel exhaust, beryllium or loud noise.

Appointments for screenings scheduled this week at the Boulder Quick Care, 5412 Boulder Highway, have been filled, but more information is available.

Sandie Medina, union project manager, can be reached at (702) 636-8777 or (888) 636-8161 for further information and future screening appointments.

Doctors from Boston University and the University of California, San Francisco are conducting the screenings.

The Nevada Test Site is under investigation as a probable source of toxic beryllium, National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman Darwin Morgan said.

A team of scientists is investigating a site where a small nuclear reactor exploded 40 years ago and at other experiment spots at the Test Site to see if there is a link to beryllium, a toxic metal, which also turned up last year at the North Las Vegas complex, Morgan said.

In the early 1960s, Morgan said, beryllium was used to absorb neutrons during the development of a nuclear reactor designed for spacecraft. The device was never produced.

One worker at the North Las Vegas building developed lung disease caused by beryllium. Beryllium was milled there for nuclear weapons switches.

Evidence points to workers walking through contaminated areas at the Test Site, Morgan said, then bringing the residue back on their shoes and boots onto office floors and carpets.

So far 450 workers at the complex have volunteered to be tested for beryllium exposure, Morgan said. The workers have also been relocated and the office complex is off-limits.