ALERT: Nuclear Accident in Illinois tonight at Honeywell plant, shelter in place

Above is the phone call I had with the NRC.

They denied anyone was injured.

I am hoping to speak with the reporter at Huntington News and the Union this afternoon to get more info about the injuries mentioned in the article I posted above this post.

Thank you for your diligence!

Someone sayz,

See how easy that is? They just deny it. Who can force them to acknowledge it?

Hey, Simple! How are things?

aHEMagain

Hi aHEMagain! Things are okay. : )

Nice to see you around.

Hope all is well with you.

HONEYWELL ADMITS TO MISCLASSIFYING EMERGENCY

Company reports to Nuclear Regulatory Commission that event classification should have been upgraded

Metropolis, IL – In an event report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC) by Honeywell, the company claims that, according to their own Emergency Response protocol, the event “should have been upgraded” at 7:42pm to “Alert” status.

Honeywell Spokesperson, Peter Dalpe, in multiple statements claimed “All plant emergency procedures were followed,” but now the company is admitting that may not be the case. Dalpe went as far as to say, “It is disappointing that the union is spreading misleading information about Sunday’s incident and the site’s appropriate and effective emergency response.”

In a report filed by the NRC outlining the initial results of their investigation states the “NRC inspection found that Honeywell did not recognize that the HF released from the FMB warranted an emergency classification of ALERT.” The report added, “Honeywell has determined that if any HF travelled beyond their property it would have been of such low concentration as to pose no public safety hazard.”

less than 50%

[link to usw7-669.com]

United Steelworkers Local 7-669 President, Stephen Lech, said “It is unfortunate that the NRC was not even going to investigate the event and simply take Honeywell’s word for their response until the union sent the Commission a video of the event. We are now beginning to see that the union’s claims of an inadequate response were not an over reaction.”

Honeywell had shut down operation of the facility voluntarily while the investigation continued, but now, according to the report, “NRC will confirm the adequacy of Honeywell’s corrective actions to ensure effective implementation of their emergency plan prior to resuming operations.”



The lesson here is always assume worst case scenario when it comes to nuclear releases.

Last Edited by RadChick on 11/06/2014 01:25 PM

"hmmm. ok that didn't work: those dang burn GLPer's and RadChick NOTICED. Ok go to plan B; tell them we will reanalyze the union supplied video and pictures and we will get back to them.....in 9 months after investigation. Why, no, we can't comment further, it's under investigation...."

......as representative sneaks off into obscurity waiting for John Q. Public to forget about this.........

GREAT work RadChick! 5 star

Um, OK, but there's still no reason to think radioactive material was released. When you scream about nuclear releases, no one thinks about HF (except those who work at the place.)

Don't get me wrong, no one should be exposed to HF, but it's not radioactive. Personally, I'd rather be exposed to freshly enriched reactor fuel than HF. Much rather.

Point taken. And I agree. The toxicity of the gas is of primary concern for the health of the surrounding communities.

So let me rephrase this to say:

The lesson here is to assume worst case scenario in the event of any releases, nuclear-related, chemical-related, or otherwise, including - but not limited to - any and every government agency that is tasked with being a "watchdog" of said industry, or by spokespeople of the plant that is in question.

Better?

Last Edited by RadChick on 11/06/2014 08:42 PM

Sorry I shoulda probably included CDC EPA NIH and local health departments, but whatevs



Last Edited by RadChick on 11/06/2014 08:44 PM

A uranium hexafluoride leak killed two workers at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1944 when a weld ruptured on a cylinder containing the gas. The cylinder launched like a rocket, traveling 164 meters, tearing out pipes and equipment in its path, and exposing 20 workers to the gas.

In addition to the two killed, “three people were seriously injured, 12 were hospitalized for observation, and three were without symptoms,” according to the National Research Council report.

“The seriously injured individuals experienced chemical conjunctivitis with edema, chemical erosion of the cornea (resulting in temporary blindness), first-, second-, and third-degree chemical burns, nausea and vomiting, chemical bronchitis, pulmonary edema, and/or shock,” the report states. “The seriously injured workers completely recovered within 3 weeks of the accident.”

less than 50%

[link to www.forbes.com]

Still waiting on the NRC final report.

Here is the prelim report from the NRC although there were injuries as posted previously, so that part is WRONG

[link to pbadupws.nrc.gov]

NEW

ALERT DECLARED DUE TO AN URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE (UF6) RELEASE

At 1755 CDT on 08/01/15, Honeywell declared an ALERT and activated their Emergency Response Team (ERT) based on an on-going UF6 release. The source of the leak is from a tell-tale valve installed during maintenance activities for Condenser #4 in the Feed Materials Building (FMB) 6th floor. The licensee employed a mitigating strategy using CO2 inside the FMB and spray towers external to the FMB.

A Protective Action Recommendation (PAR) order was issued for local residents to shelter in-place although there was no indication of an offsite release.

At 2035 CDT the licensee reported that the leak was isolated by installing a pipe plug into the threaded tell-tale line. The PAR was lifted at 1948 CDT.

There are no worker injuries with all personnel accounted for. The licensee plans to issue a press release.

Notified other FEDS (DHS SWO, DOE Ops Center, FEMA Ops Center, HHS Ops Center, NICC Watch Officer, USDA Ops Center, EPA EOC, and FDA EOC, FEMA NWC and NuclearSSA via email)

* * * UPDATE AT 2240 EDT ON 08/01/15 FROM MARK WOLF TO REGION 2 INCIDENT RESPONSE CENTER * * *

At 2032 CDT on 08/01/15, the ALERT was downgraded to a Plant Emergency based on mitigation status and visual observation of the affected area.

* * * UPDATE AT 0032 EDT ON 08/02/15 FROM MARK WOLF TO REGION 2 INCIDENT RESPONSE CENTER * * *

The licensee will be remaining in the plant emergency mode while monitoring the vessel under vacuum conditions. The decision to replace the flange will be made by the licensee in the morning following monitoring of the vacuum conditions.

Bottom of NRC report page

[link to www.nrc.gov]

NRC To Conduct Special Inspection After "Hex" Leak At Honeywell's Metropolis Works

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday it had ordered a special inspection of Honeywell's Metropolis Works in southern Illinois after a nearly two hour leak of uranium hexafluoride on Saturday evening that the company say did not endanger the public or workers at the plant.

The leak was reported to have been stopped at 7:48 p.m. CDT. An NRC inspector was on site by Sunday, the NRC said.
Honeywell officials indicated that the leak was on the sixth floor of the plant’s Feed Materials Building. The facility’s mitigation towers, which are large water sprays, were activated, and according to Honeywell, no uranium hexafluoride left the plant site. Monitoring devices located at the site boundaries detected no radiological release beyond regulatory limits.

Nonetheless, NRC Region II Administrator Victor McCree called the incident “a potentially serious event.”

Video: [link to www.wpsdlocal6.com]

Now another Honeywell incident, truck full of uranium catches fire:

“The tractor or cab part of a tractor trailer that was delivering natural uranium ore caught on fire in front of Honeywell Metropolis facility Sunday evening. Local firefighters responded and extinguished the fire. There were no reported injuries to the driver and there are no reports that the fire breached the trailer. Firefighters indicated the fire apparent started in the engine compartment of tractor.

The truck was not in the facility itself and there was no danger to the operations. The plant initially declared a plant alert and notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as per plant procedures. However, that alert status was later downgrade to plant emergency, which is the lowest alert status at the plant.”

OMFG. That was a close one...


[link to www.wpsdlocal6.com]