Many employees at this uranium plant in Paducah, Kentucky, fear they may have been exposed to high levels of radiation

September 30, 1999
Web posted at: 1:02 a.m. EDT (0502 GMT)

In this story: Review ordered by Richardson Paducah workers say they weren't informed RELATED STORIES, SITES

EVANSVILLE, Indiana -- The Energy Department has released preliminary findings from a review of the handling of recycled uranium years ago at three plants in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.

A federal official said Wednesday the radioactive contaminant neptunium posed a greater threat to workers than plutonium at the three plants because there was much more of it.

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"I've been focused very much on the neptunium and it's a little dismaying to me all the attention that's given to plutonium," said David Michaels, the Department of Energy's assistant secretary for environment, safety and health.

The review is being performed in conjunction with an investigation ordered by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson into health, safety and environmental concerns at the plants. The government has acknowledged that workers at the plants were unwittingly exposed to plutonium and other toxic materials.

Michaels made the comment during a teleconference with reporters to announce the preliminary findings from its review of procedures for uranium use at the Energy Department's three gaseous diffusion plants in Paducah, Kentucky, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Piketon, Ohio.

The uranium was used in military or commercial applications before being recycled by the plants, which now enrich uranium solely for fuel in nuclear reactors.

The Paducah plant apparently processed most of the agency's recycled uranium -- about 100,000 tons of the material, which contained an estimated 12 ounces of plutonium, compared with 41 pounds of neptunium.

Workers from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant told the House Commerce oversight and investigation subcommittee earlier this month that for years, managers withheld from them information that they were being exposed to plutonium, telling them the uranium powder that contained traces of the dangerous metal was "safe enough to eat."

The subcommittee was examining allegations of widespread health, safety and environmental violations at the plant, which has processed enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons and commercial reactors since 1952.

The Energy Department said information from its own investigation will allow it to determine whether more extensive reviews of exposures among plant workers or environmental contamination are required. Exposure to radiation has been linked to forms of cancer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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