The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) announced that on November 8, seventeen employees were exposed to plutonium.  At least six show signs of contamination.

It happened inside the decommissioned Zero Power Physics Reactor.  A container containing plutonium was opened by the workers.

The employees went through decontamination procedures, and are being checked at the INL’s Central Facilities Medical Center.

The INL is run by contractor Battelle Energy Alliance.

This is the second ‘event’ this year involving radioactive material from the INL.    In January, 2011, an employee was nearly exposed to a full years worth of radiation, after a miscalculation as to the amount of radiation the worker would be exposed to for a specific task.

Also, in September, 2011, a small container was found on an Idaho Falls street, it was labeled as containing radioactive Iodine 131.  The INL was called in to investigate. They claim the container was empty and not radioactive. They discovered it was used for medical purposes.