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Los Alamos sacks staff for shipping radioactive materials as air cargo
THE discovery that small amounts of radioactive materials were mistakenly sent from Los Alamos National Laboratory across the US using a commercial air cargo service has resulted in a number of employees being sacked.
"Although these shipments arrived safely at their destinations and no one was hurt, this mistake, taken together with other mistakes in recent years, is unacceptable and is in the process of being addressed promptly and thoroughly," a lab spokesman told the Albuquerque Journal. "Our response to this incident is not business as usual."
He added: "Toward that end, all of those involved from the individual contributor level up the management chain have been held accountable through actions that include terminations, suspensions, and compensation consequences.
"Furthermore, we are transferring the responsibility for fissile nuclear material shipments to a different organisation within the laboratory."
Federal officials announced on June 23 that LANL had shipped "special nuclear materials" by air to national labs in California and South Carolina in violation of regulations.
"Although these shipments arrived safely at their destinations and no one was hurt, this mistake, taken together with other mistakes in recent years, is unacceptable and is in the process of being addressed promptly and thoroughly," a lab spokesman told the Albuquerque Journal. "Our response to this incident is not business as usual."
He added: "Toward that end, all of those involved from the individual contributor level up the management chain have been held accountable through actions that include terminations, suspensions, and compensation consequences.
"Furthermore, we are transferring the responsibility for fissile nuclear material shipments to a different organisation within the laboratory."
Federal officials announced on June 23 that LANL had shipped "special nuclear materials" by air to national labs in California and South Carolina in violation of regulations.
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