Sandia nuke lab understated security risks, report finds

A review of Sandia National Laboratories' nuclear reactors found safety deficiencies that could threaten the public in the event of a plant emergency, according to a National Nuclear Security Administration report.

The Dec. 10 report, obtained by government watchdog group The Project on Government Oversight, stated that the laboratory has played down the risk to the public in the event of a nuclear accident.

The report found "no unsafe operations during the course of the review," but did make several recommendations for improving safety procedures. The review was requested by the agency's Sandia site office manager.

The nuclear research lab is located on Kirtland Air Force Base in southeastern Albuquerque, N.M. The base's golf course and riding stables, located about a mile from Sandia's nuclear reactors, are used by active-duty and retired members of the military, federal workers, contractors and their families.

In the event of a nuclear accident, radioactive material would reach the people at the course and stables before they could be evacuated, the report stated. The review also found that the stable caretakers live in a home on the grounds with their children. In the report, Sandia did not consider the golf course or stables "public" areas.

NNSA also found deficiencies that were so pervasive at two of the reactors that the safety analysis would have to be completely rewritten. Investigators found that Sandia had underestimated the radiological doses to the public in the event of an accident by underestimating the distance of the nuclear lab from the public.

Sandia spokesman John German said the report is part of the routine oversight NNSA provides. He emphasized that the review team found no unsafe operations, and that the process of keeping the public safe is working.

"We are already working on those improvements," German said. "It shouldn't be any surprise for NNSA to review our operations and find some areas that need improvement. That's part of their job, and we are actively addressing those concerns."

German said the review is changing the way Sandia defines the golf course and the stables, which in the past were never described as public places. "It's going to require an adjustment."

Peter Stockton, a POGO senior investigator who works on nuclear safety, criticized NNSA's promotion of the self-governance model at national nuclear laboratories and facilities. He said the deficient safety report is the result of self-governance, which is being used at Sandia.

"This is what happens when you don't have strict federal oversight," Stockton said. "Those golf courses and those stables have been there for a long time, and nobody has noticed them."

German said the review is routine. Stockton said he has never seen a report from the NNSA this critical, and that they "usually attempt to soft-pedal it."

The lab, which is operated by Lockheed Martin Corp., also was criticized by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board in September 2004 for lacking safety systems that would prevent a radioactive plume from escaping from Sandia's hot cell facility.