[CPEO-MEF] Radium incident at Kelly AFB

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Radium traces found at Kelly 
  
By Jerry Needham 
San Antonio Express-News 
  
Web Posted : 10/18/2003 12:00 AM 
  
The Air Force and the Texas Department of Health said Friday that they
are probing an incident in which Boeing Co. contractors dug beneath the
foundation of a hangar at KellyUSA and came into contact with piping and
soils containing radium paint. 

The radioactive material was found at the site of a former paint shop,
where in the 1920s radium 226 was applied to aircraft instrument dials,
officials said. 

Radium is a natural byproduct of uranium decay and is found in minerals,
including rocks made by volcanic action. 

"We're still awaiting results of tests of the soil that the Air Force
sent out for analysis," said Bob Free, deputy director for emergency
response and investigation for the Health Department's Bureau of
Radiation Control in Austin. 

Work on the project inside Hangar 361 at the former Kelly AFB stopped
Oct. 7 after the notification. But little was said about the matter
Friday. 

Boeing and KellyUSA officials were mum on several issues, among them how
many workers may have been exposed to radiation and why the Air Force
failed to notify the company of the problem for two months. 

...

See http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlc=1071216
-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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