Los Alamos, N.M. ? A Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher who was exposed to radioactive material and spread the contamination to his home and out-of-state locations, including places in Kansas, didn’t follow proper procedures, according to a lab report.

An internal incidence report states that the worker didn’t adhere to shipping and receiving procedures when he opened a package from a neighboring lab facility that was contaminated with americium 241, a radioactive decay product of plutonium.

The researcher, who works with uranium, received a package of slightly enriched uranium nitride pellets July 14. He verified the serial numbers on the pellet containers by unloading them without the help of a radiological control technician as required by lab procedures.

The contamination wasn’t discovered until July 25, when a technician noticed a radiological material tag in a trash can in a non-radiological area.

The lab report states that a check of the area around the glove box where the pellet containers were unloaded revealed on-site contamination greater than 10 times the total contamination values allowed under federal standards.

Off-site contamination was detected at the worker’s home in Los Alamos and was tracked to Colorado and Kansas, where the researcher visited. Radiological specialists removed items from homes in Colorado and Kansas and decontaminated them.

Lab officials said the contamination levels posed no risk to the public.

The researcher and five other lab workers are being monitored for any radioactive exposure.