Reflecting on a recent tragedy at DOE’s Idaho Site, the Hanford Fire Marshal and a DOE Richland safety engineer address local concerns about installed fire protection systems at Hanford.

On July 28, 1998, preparations were under way for the preventative maintenance of the electrical distribution systems in Building 648 at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Preparations included the impairment of the total flooding carbon dioxide (CO₂) fire protection system.

At 6:00 p.m., the INEEL CO₂ system inadvertently activated. Five of the 14 workers involved in the maintenance were not able to escape the CO₂ atmosphere but were retrieved by rescuers. The accident resulted in one fatality and several injuries. The cause remains under a DOE Type A investigation.

Since that tragic event at INEEL, there have been a lot of questions, not the least of which is: "Could it happen here?"

This article is part of a continuing series on fire and life safety to remind each of us of the dangers presented by a fire or, as in the INEEL case, dangers presented by a fire protection system.

Could it happen here? The answer is no.

Hanford has no CO₂ systems installed to "inert" a room – that is, to retard a fire by displacing oxygen with carbon dioxide. There is one CO₂ fire protection system at Hanford. It is installed in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Building 320, and the system protects the fume hood exhaust ductwork serving the laboratory. This fire protection system does not discharge carbon dioxide into a room or occupied space in the laboratory.

Nevertheless PNNL fire protection staff, other fire protection and safety points of contacts on site, and DOE Richland personnel are actively awaiting the final report of the DOE Type A Investigation Board to determine whether there are needs that should be addressed at Hanford.

In past years, CO₂ fire protection systems were installed in Hanford Local Area Network modules for property protection. However, after a change in the DOE requirements consistent with commercial industry practices, these systems were removed from service for personnel safety purposes.

There are also other types of inert fire retarding systems at the Fast Flux Test Facility that use nitrogen and argon, but these systems are only operated manually. Specific procedures, training, and oxygen monitoring are in place for these systems to ensure proper operation and the safety of personnel.

The safety of each employee is the foremost concern in all programs here at Hanford, as embodied by our safety culture characterized by the slogan, "Be aware because we care."

The Office of the Fire Marshal will be publishing additional information relative to fire safety in later articles, but in the meantime, if you have any questions and cannot reach your safety or fire professional, the Fire Marshal’s Office can be contacted at 373-4022.

This article was published in the April 6, 1998, issue of the Hanford Reach.