Authorities have found a sizeable cache of unauthorized radiological materials in a locked cabinet inside a building at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, apparently accumulated by a former employee of a Navy remediation subcontractor.
The Navy and the subcontractor said the suspect is an employee of RSI Entech, which was hired by the military to remediate the area.Around 200 radiological items — including samples of uranium and thorium — were found in a locked cabinet within a large complex called Building 400A in Hunters Point in April.The items also included liquid scintillators, a specialized laboratory instrument used for radiological analysis. Most of the items were radioactive isotopes known as “check sources” that are used to calibrate devices like a Geiger counter.Jeff Bale, director of operations at RSI Entech, said the materials were stored there by a “rogue” employee.
The radiological materials may have been brought in between roughly 2019 and 2022, when the “rogue employee” in question worked for a firm called Envirachem, which was later acquired by RSI.
Navy environmental coordinator Michael Pound said the employee did not have the authorization to have the materials in the building.The Navy said that there has been “no health or environmental concern identified,” and the area is “designated as a radiologically controlled area pending radiological surveys.”The materials found there are being evaluated “for proper handling and disposal.” The Navy is currently aiming to complete the evaluation and dispose of the materials.
The finding occurred during ongoing cleanup operations at the Superfund site, a federal designation for locations contaminated with hazardous substances that require long-term remediation.
The site, which is currently blocked off with fencing, was once an active shipyard from 1945 to 1974 where the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory conducted research on the effects of radiation and atomic weapons. The site was also used to decommission radioactive ships, leading to the accumulation of radionuclides contaminating the surrounding soil and water….Regulatory agencies, including the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state Department of Environmental Health, were notified of the discovery by April 10. It has also been reported to the Navy Office of the Inspector General and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a federal law enforcement agency that investigates crimes involving the Navy and Marine Corps.The Navy is working with the regulatory agencies the contractor to ensure proper off-site disposal of the material.
While officials have emphasized that no immediate health or environmental risk has been identified, the discovery raises important questions about oversight, material control, and internal accountability during remediation activities at such a historically sensitive site.
It would be particularly informative to understand what the “rogue employee” intended to do with these materials and how they were able to accumulate them over time without detection.
Investigators will likely focus on those gaps, and it is reasonable to hope that the ongoing inquiries provide clear answers that can inform stronger controls moving forward.
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