Two Hanford workers were accidentally sprayed with water Wednesday evening in one of the nuclear reservation’s radioactively contaminated facilities.
Surveys for radioactive contamination found none on them, but checks of the liquid found it contained chemicals and cleaning solution.
One of the employees used an emergency shower as a precaution after she experienced a burning feeling on the back of her neck, according to a message sent to tank farm employees early Thursday evening.
Crews were sent into the area after the event and found and removed low levels of radioactive contamination not associated with the water spray, according to the message from Washington River Protection Solutions.
The two employees were in the Effluent Treatment Facility processing room — which requires radioactive contamination precautions — to empty and clean out a sump water tank to transfer waste into another tank.
Shortly after 7 p.m. the hose connection apparently failed, leaking contaminated water onto the floor and spraying the workers.
The Hanford Fire Department sent an ambulance to the facility as a precaution. But the workers declined medical checks either on site or at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.
Both were back at work Thursday.
The Effluent Treatment Facility in the center of the site treats high volumes of waste water contaminated with low levels of radioactive and hazardous chemical contaminants.
The facility removes or destroys contaminants with filters, reverse osmosis, pH adjustment and ultraviolet lights to clean 28 million gallons of water a year.
