Poor maintenance and the deactivation of an onboard fire suppression system are to blame for a truck fire inside the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to a Department of Energy report released Friday.
An accident investigation board concluded the fire Feb. 5 was preventable and influenced by a long list of safety shortfalls on the part of contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership and the DOE. Among them, the report charges that the vehicles used to expand the underground transuranic waste repository were maintained to a much lower standard than those handling the waste. The truck in question was 29-years-old and had caught fire previously in 2005 after an electrical short, according to the report. Two years earlier, a subcontractor had switched its automatic fire suppression system to manual mode after multiple inadvertent activations. Investigators concluded that a buildup of hydraulic fluid or diesel ignited in the engine compartment, starting the February fire that spread to the front tires and filled the repository with smoke.
The truck operator unsuccessfully tried to put the fire out using an onboard fire extinguisher and then the fire suppression system. The report was also critical of WIPP's response from there. While all 86 workers made it to the surface safely, many had difficulty seeing through the smoke along evacuation routes – a condition the report suggests was made worse by a decision to switch the ventilation system to filtration mode. Some workers had problems using emergency breathing devices. The truck operator was described as inadequately trained and did not report the fire or its location properly.
In response, the Department of Energy reported on its website that it is implementing changes to emphasize preventative maintenance of equipment and the use of personal protective equipment. WIPP is simultaneously investigating a subsequent incident that resulted in environmental and worker exposure to small amounts of radioactive material. It is unclear at this point whether the events are related.