Beryllium risk to new Hanford workers

ProPublica : Two billion dollars in federal stimulus money is leading to 4000 extra jobs on top of the 11 000 already working to clean up nuclear contamination at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site, but at a cost. Robert Valdez, 33, a father of two young children who was among the early hires, said the starting pay of $17 an hour plus benefits was “life changing.” So were the nine weeks of intensive training he underwent to prepare for the hazards of working around a stew of poisonous chemicals and menacing pockets of radiation.But the twin ambitions of hiring people quickly and enduring environmental gains are colliding with another goal: worker safety. The crush of new hiring, ProPublica has found, is potentially exposing stimulus workers to beryllium dust, a legacy of the nuclear industry that can cause a debilitating and deadly disease in people who are sensitive to the metal.The risks don’t seem to be registering with some workers. Valdez said he received extensive radiation training but spent only four hours on beryllium safety. He left with the impression that beryllium “is in a few buildings, but it’s not something to worry about ... I don’t think about beryllium on a daily basis.”