Seventeen workers at the Idaho National Laboratory were exposed to radiation during an incident at the eastern Idaho facility yesterday afternoon.  Six of them have tested positive for low levels of contamination. The incident was reported at 1 p.m. in the Materials and Fuels Complex. INL officials say the employees were working inside the decommissioned Zero Power Physics Reactor when a container was opened and resulted in low-level exposure to plutonium.  The employees were  transported to the Central Facilities Medical Center on the INL site for decontamination procedures. Each employee is undergoing a full body scan, which can take up to an hour.  All of the affected employees work for Battelle Energy Alliance.  A statement from the INL said there is no evidence of any contamination outside the facility, and there is no risk to the public or the environment.

 

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