Lab Workers' Records Available
By Heather Clark, The Associated PressALBUQUERQUE — The Department of Energy will recover the medical records of former Los Alamos National Laboratory workers that can help them prove whether they qualify for federal compensation for exposure to radiation and beryllium.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Sen.-elect Tom Udall, both New Mexico Democrats, welcomed the DOE's announcement Thursday of its decision to make the records available to former lab employees and their survivors.
The medical records are believed to span from Los Alamos lab's early days to the mid-1960s, according to a news release from the Los Alamos Site Office of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
They were stored at the Los Alamos Medical Center and were created before the facility was privatized in 1964.
The former employees need the records to determine whether they are eligible for a one-time payment of $150,000 from the federal Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act.
The compensation, which also includes medical benefits, was set up to help Cold War-era employees of the northern New Mexico nuclear weapons lab who were exposed to radiation, beryllium and other harmful substances. Beryllium is a strong but lightweight metal used in nuclear weapons. Airborne exposure can lead to chronic, incurable respiratory problems.
Bingaman says DOE's move will help former employees provide the information necessary to receive the compensation.
“Until now, many former workers seeking federal compensation have had a very hard time proving they were medically eligible,” he said.
Udall, who represents Los Alamos in the House until he takes up his seat in the Senate next month, said he first brought the issue to the attention of the DOE in March 2006.
“While I am pleased that DOE has entered into an agreement to retrieve the records, it's unfortunate that it's taken the agency nearly three years to do so,” Udall said.
The department recently announced it would provide $1 million to the Los Alamos Medical Center to help salvage the old medical records.
It was not clear how long employees will have to wait for the records.
The NNSA's Los Alamos Site Office said in a news release that the records must be moved and then sorted before any information is released to individuals, a process that will take “some time” as there are health, safety, and security precautions that need to be taken.
An NNSA spokesman was not immediately available Thursday to say when the records would be available for review.
The records may be covered with hantavirus-bearing mouse droppings, which would require them to be decontaminated. Other hazards include mold and radiation, the NNSA said.
In addition, some of the medical records may include classified information.
The Los Alamos Medical Center is responsible for the decontamination, sorting and return of the records to DOE or to their appropriate owners.
All records will be preserved, catalogued and stored, the NNSA said.
DOE has a lot of rules that cover the storage of classified information. If DOE believes that these records contain classified information, then the obvious question - were the rules followed?
"The records may be covered with hantavirus-bearing mouse droppings, which would require them to be decontaminated. Other hazards include mold and radiation, the NNSA said."
ReplyDeleteOh, brother! What other types of lame excuses can the NNSA come up with to slow things down and drive up the costs.
What a load of crap. Is this the same NNSA that had many of us working for decades in rat-infested lab spaces and offices? Sometimes I wonder who comes up with this stuff and how they look themselves in the mirror each morning. Hantavirus infected records...indeed.
ReplyDeleteI agree, 5:31 PM.
ReplyDeleteMold? Mice droppings? Leaking roofs? Poisonous uncut weeds? They are all too common when you work at LANL in one the 50+ year old building that are still in use at this lab. Not everyone has a modern office with central AC and heating like the Big Kahunas over at the NSSB.
If newscasters were ever allowed to bring in cameras and see some work areas of LANL, I think they would be shocked at the filth of the working conditions in which many scientists are forced to conduct their research.
"forced to conduct their research"
ReplyDeleteLOL - you are not forced to do anything. You can quit, whiner.
Recession, what recession? Northrup Grumman is hiring, especially if you have a good science degree and a government clearance. Heck, they are begging people to come work for them!
ReplyDeletewww.latimes.com/business/
la-fi-aerojobs20-2008dec20,
0,4604704.story
*****
Jobs Go Begging at Northrop Grumman - Los Angeles Times
The defense contractor is offering cash and free dinner inducements to applicants to fill hundreds of positions. There's a catch: many jobs require highly specialized skills and a security clearance.
By Peter Pae
December 20, 2008
It's an increasingly rare sight these days, but Northrop Grumman Corp. has been putting out help-wanted signs all over town.
The huge defense contractor has flown sky banners with "Northrop Grumman is hiring" over Southland beaches and during a USC football game, has placed ads on company shuttle buses, and has even offered $100 plus a free dinner for potential hires to come check them out.
Despite perhaps the biggest pool of unemployed workers looking for jobs in decades, Northrop officials say they haven't been able to fill the open positions.
This year it has hired 1,800 workers for its Integrated Systems division in Southern California but still has another 1,800 openings for engineers, machinists, mechanics and computer programmers.
In a cruel twist for thousands of job-seekers, Northrop says a vast majority of the applicants -- the company gets 30,000 resumes a week -- don't qualify. And many who do qualify already have good jobs with rivals who are doing all they can to keep them.
Century City-based Northrop is the nation's third-largest defense contractor and the second-largest private employer in Southern California. In the last year or so it has won several major multi-billion-dollar government contracts.
Few qualify because many of the jobs require highly specialized or esoteric skills. Consider the latest opening at Northrop for a "cryogenic propellant management engineer." If you need to ask what it is, then you probably don't qualify. For most of us, it has something to do with really cold rocket fuel used for NASA's lunar lander. The bottom line is that there aren't many people who have any experience in the area of cryogenic propellants.
Adding to the hiring difficulty is that most of the jobs require that the employee have a government security clearance.
"It's a quandary for us," said Emitte Scruggs, director of staffing for Northrop's Integrated Systems sector. "Even when we do find someone, they can't get the clearance. I know it sounds odd, but we're having a tough time hiring."
"This year it has hired 1,800 workers for its Integrated Systems division in Southern California but still has another 1,800 openings for engineers, machinists, mechanics and computer programmers."
ReplyDeleteSo where are the openings for science degrees, dude?
So where are the openings for science degrees, dude?
ReplyDelete12/20/08 12:54 PM
Sorry, but I guess you'll have to go back to college and earn a 'useful' degree. It should only take a year or two if you're really smart.
Amen brother, 5:31 pm. Reminds me of a story I just heard Thursday at lunch by a fellow co-worker. He reached behind his desk (at work) to adjust some computer cords, grabbed a cord, and realized it was not a cord, but a rat tail!
ReplyDeleteApparently, a rat got its foot stuck in a mouse trap, tried to chew off the foot, and bled to death.
"DOE has a lot of rules that cover the storage of classified information. If DOE believes that these records contain classified information, then the obvious question - were the rules followed?"
ReplyDeleteYes, all the mice were q-cleared and had a fully vetted need to pee.
LOL - you are not forced to do anything. You can quit, whiner.
ReplyDelete12/19/08 10:57 PM
Don't be a jerk. Sponsors are paying upwards of $400K/year to have this work done, and LANS can't scrape up a dime of overhead, much less a penny of their $80M award fee to put a decent roof over the heads of the people who earned it for them? You're right, 8:52 could quit, but that wouldn't lessen the shamefulness of the facilities and working conditions around here.
Don't worry, 8:28 AM, Terry's on top of the problem. Once the Science Complex is finished around 2015, most of the scientists at LANL will be crammed into tiny cubicles under the roof of a gigantic science warehouse.
ReplyDeleteThese new offices (and I use that term loosely) should be a real plus in helping LANL with future recruitment. We'll also save on telecom bills, as you'll be able to simply shout to your colleagues rather than call then on the phone.
"So where are the openings for science degrees, dude?"
ReplyDelete12/20/08 12:54 PM
"Sorry, but I guess you'll have to go back to college and earn a 'useful' degree. It should only take a year or two if you're really smart."
12/21/08 2:13 PM
2:13, I wonder if you are aware of the mapping results between Scientists and R&D Engineers at LANL. As most know, the pay bands for the six levels of both job categories are identical. Perhaps not so widely known is that ~30% of those classified as Scientists are in the highest three pay band levels (4,5,6), while ~20% of the R&D Engineers are at those levels.
Without specific details, it would appear that being classified as a scientist at LANL is superior to being classified as an R&D engineer.