Over the last five days, 42 workers at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington State have received medical attention after being exposed to toxic vapors. Experts have stated that even being exposed to the vapors for a short period of time could lead to long-term, life threatening diseases. Although this is not a new problem for the nuclear site, as it has had toxic gas issues in the past, this week has seen a record number of incidents. Washington State Attorney, Bob Ferguson, attempted to protect workers with a lawsuit brought against the U.S. Department of Energy and Washington River Protection Solutions in September and has called this week's accidents "shameful".
See "Record number of Hanford workers sickened by toxic vapors", Susannah Frame, NBC King, May 5, 2016