News Archive
The 2020 HPS Virtual Workshop is just around the corner. The workshop, which is being held in place of the annual meeting, begins on 10 September 2020. See the virtual workshop website for registration and current workshop information as it becomes available.
Session Highlight: Argonne National Laboratory Response to 237Np Incident – Tuesday, 15 September 2020
In August 2017, a health physics technician responded to a personal contamination incident where a researcher splashed neptunium solution on their lab coat. Further investigation revealed that the solution had penetrated through the lab coat and splashed onto the individual's forehead. The researcher later revealed that the neptunium was dissolved in a hydrofluoric/nitrite acid solution, complicating the incident response further. This presentation will focus on the challenges faced and lessons learned during this complex contamination incident. Challenges included initial response and assessment, getting hospital staff to focus on an acute chemical exposure and not being distracted by low-level radioactive contamination, and removal of fixed skin contamination. Further actions by the individual made the dose assessments difficult. The presentation will also discuss the unique approaches taken to determine internal and external exposure.
All sessions will begin at 2 pm EDT and run to approximately 5:20 pm EDT.
The Program Committee chair is Chris Shaw.
The Task Force chair for the Program Committee is Zach Tribbett.
