CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — A project out of a New York college is set to offer free medical-screening programs for former workers at the federal government's nuclear waste repository.
The Worker Health Protection Program run by Queens College of the City University of New York will announce later this month details of the screenings for former Waste Isolation Pilot Plant workers.
The repository has been closed since February 2014, when the container of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory ruptured and contaminated 22 workers along with parts of the underground facility.
Officials suspect the breach stemmed from a chemical reaction in highly acidic waste containing a lead-based glove that was packed with organic cat litter to absorb moisture.