Workers at Intel's semiconductor plant in Kiryat Gat were ordered to shelter in place on Monday morning after a suspected hazardous materials leak was detected at the facility, just days after an explosion at the same site killed two employees. Israel Fire and Rescue Services dispatched specialized hazmat units to the plant following a report through its 102 emergency line that staff had identified a chemical leak.
Fire and rescue crews from the Ashkelon station arrived at the scene to assess the situation, while hazardous materials specialists worked to trace the source of the substance. Officials said the incident appeared contained within the plant grounds and posed no threat to surrounding communities, though the investigation was still underway at the time of reporting.
A Plant Already Under Scrutiny
The new leak comes less than a week after an explosion at the same facility killed two Intel employees, Ilya Chechulin, 49, and Yakir Kosashvili, 35. A third worker, a man in his twenties, remains hospitalized in serious condition at Soroka Medical Center, where he is sedated and on a ventilator in the internal medicine intensive care unit.
Fire and Rescue Services have said the earlier blast was likely triggered by a technical failure: the rupture of a tank neck on a vessel holding eight tons of nitrogen trifluoride. Investigators described the event as rare, and it is still unclear whether the rupture stemmed from ordinary wear or a preventable defect in the equipment.
Why Nitrogen Trifluoride Is a Concern
Nitrogen trifluoride, or NF₃, is a gas widely used in semiconductor manufacturing to clean chemical vapor deposition chambers, a routine but critical step in chip production. While essential to the process, the compound is toxic if inhaled and can decompose into corrosive and hazardous byproducts under certain conditions, including heat or pressure failure. Facilities that handle NF₃ in bulk typically store it under strict containment protocols precisely because of these risks.
Intel said Monday's leak was detected by its internal monitoring systems during preparations to remove gas tanks from the plant, and confirmed the substance involved was NF₃. The company said it was coordinating closely with emergency services and relevant regulatory authorities to manage the situation, though it did not immediately clarify whether the leak was linked to the same storage system involved in last week's explosion.
Questions About Industrial Safety
Two serious incidents within a single week at one of Israel's most significant semiconductor manufacturing sites raise pointed questions about equipment maintenance, inspection schedules, and whether existing safety protocols are adequate for a facility handling large volumes of hazardous industrial gases. Kiryat Gat is one of Intel's major production hubs outside the United States, and any prolonged disruption or regulatory intervention could carry implications beyond the immediate safety concerns.
For now, authorities have emphasized that both incidents appear to have been contained on site, with no indication of risk to the wider public. But the recurrence of hazardous materials incidents so close together is likely to intensify scrutiny from labor safety regulators and prompt a broader review of how aging or heavily used industrial equipment is monitored at high-risk manufacturing sites.