Plutonium detected in air at Washington state nuclear site

Radioactive plutonium and americium have been found in air samples collected where workers enter the secure area of the Hanford nuclear reservation in southeastern Washington, state health officials said Tuesday.

The air samples were collected by the state Department of Health on June 8 at the Rattlesnake Barricade just off of public Highway 240, The Tri-City Herald reported (https://goo.gl/4km3jM).

That was the day workers at the Plutonium Finishing Plant were ordered to take cover indoors because of an airborne release of radioactive particles during demolition of the highly contaminated facility.

Department of Health officials at a Hanford Advisory Board committee meeting in Richland on Tuesday said analysis results for the air samples were received Monday.