Lab makes changes in wake of botched nuclear shipments

Los Alamos National Laboratory is making changes in the wake of last month's improper shipment of radioactive material to two other research facilities in the U.S.

The lab says several people were disciplined for their roles in the mix-up. That included firings and other personnel actions, but officials declined to provide more details.

The lab also has transferred responsibility for certain nuclear shipments to another division and has created more controls for making shipping labels.

In June, launched an investigation after small amounts of were shipped to California and South Carolina aboard a commercial cargo plane. The materials were packaged for ground transport, not air transport.

Lab officials say the mistake was unacceptable and that they're taking actions to address the incident and past safety lapses.

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Citation: Lab makes changes in wake of botched nuclear shipments (2017, July 11) retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2017-07-lab-botched-nuclear-shipments.html
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