IDAHO FALLS, Idaho, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- At least 17 workers were exposed to low levels of plutonium Tuesday at the Idaho National Laboratory outside Idaho Falls, laboratory officials said.
Officials said six employees tested positive for low-levels of contamination based on external surveying, KIFI-TV, Idaho Falls, reported.
The officials said no contamination had been detected outside the facility and there was no risk to the public or the environment, the TV station said.
The workers, all employees of Battelle Energy Alliance, were exposed when a container was opened while they were conducting work inside the decommissioned Zero Power Physics Reactor, officials said.
The Deseret News in Salt Lake City reported the employees underwent initial decontamination on site and were taken to the laboratory's Central Facilities Medical Center following the 1 p.m. incident. All 17 were to receive full body scans.
The low-power reactor where the plutonium exposure occurred was decommissioned in 1992.
The laboratory complex is 38 miles west of Idaho Falls.
