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Los Alamos Nuclear Lab Opens Doors to Reassure Public About Safety

Aired May 13, 2000 - 10:07 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: The national laboratory at Los Alamos houses plutonium and other radioactive elements. It is a 43-square- mile site near the Sandia (ph) Canyon. Fire officials say if the flames jump into the nearby Los Alamos Canyon, they could threaten laboratory properties.

To ease the worries about how the laboratory is withstanding the heat, reporters were invited inside, and CNN environment correspondent Natalie Pawelski went along.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time, news crews get a look at how Los Alamos National Laboratory is weathering the fires. The lab, for decades a bastion of security and secrecy, hosted a rare media tour. It was designed to reassure the public that radioactive and toxic waste is not burning and is not contaminating the air.

GEN. EUGENE HABIGER, ENERGY DEPARTMENT: I have see no data -- emphasize no data -- that reflects -- and I've seen data -- that reflects that there's anything except the particular matter you'd expect from trees and grass.

PAWELSKI: This is the plutonium processing facility, know as technical area 55. Flames came to within 50 feet of the fence. Another area of concern: the hazardous waste dump, where radioactive waste is stored in metal drums under fabric tents. Firefighters stopped the flames about half a mile away.

As of midday Saturday, officials say none of the lab's structures were at risk from fire.

CHIEF DOUG MACDONALD, LOS ALAMOS FIRE DEPT.: The battle is not over. We don't see this as a -- where we are now, the risk is not significant, but the risk is certainly still there.

PAWELSKI: Some observers worry about what's in the smoke from the fires at the lab. Officials have noted a slight increase in background radiation, which they say is typical of any large forest fire and doesn't have anything to do with the radioactive materials at the lab. (on camera): Some of the neighbors are also worried about other kinds of toxic materials, like PCBs and heavy metals, getting from the lab and into the air. Officials say that is not happening. But the lab doesn't usually monitor for that kind of pollution, and new monitors that will check for it are going up just in case.

Natalie Pawelski, CNN, Los Alamos New Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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