DOE Expert Team Provides Proactive Air Monitoring Near ETEC During Sandy Fire

The first two photos in this series show air monitoring efforts performed by a U.S. Department of Energy radiological technician during the recent Sandy Fire in Simi Valley, California, which burned near the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. In the third photo, firefighting resources are staged near the ETEC site. Photos courtesy of Josh Mengers.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) provided radiological air monitoring during the recent Sandy Fire in Simi Valley, California, which burned near the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), a 2,850-acre former nuclear energy research and rocket engine testing facility.

RAP established a site baseline of radiological substances in the air using gamma scanners. RAP will identify changes to any radiological substances outside the footprint of the ETEC site.

DOE’s Office of Environmental Management is charged with remediating Area IV at SSFL, where DOE previously conducted nuclear energy and liquid metals research.

RAP includes national laboratory scientists who support high-stakes nuclear and radiological emergency response operations. The program is part of DOE’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team, a multi-mission federal capability managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration. It’s the nation’s premier first-responder organization for assessing and characterizing radiological threats.

The RAP team also helped respond to the Woolsey Fire, which burned on the SSFL in 2018. Extensive air monitoring and sampling by DOE and external agencies during and after the Woolsey Fire found no evidence of radiological releases from DOE’s Area IV.

Read more about DOE’s RAP team here: Inside the Lab: Meet the team protecting America from nuclear threats | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.