Wednesday, August 18, 1999
Patton: Paducah plant now OK
Uranium recycling facility toured
BY JAMES PRICHARD
The Associated Press
PADUCAH, Ky. — While all appears to be in order now at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, his administration will do all it can to further ensure the safety of the plant's workers and neighbors, Gov. Paul Patton said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, an official with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) vowed that his agency “will leave no stone unturned” during its investigation into health, safety and environmental issues at the uranium-enrichment plant.
Mr. Patton and a busload of other state, federal and plant officials toured the plant, which is about 15 miles west of Paducah in far western Kentucky.
The governor's visit and the DOE investigation follow the recent revelation of a federal whistle-blower lawsuit. Sealed documents in the suit allege that plant workers were unknowingly exposed to plutonium, a highly radioactive element, for 23 years.
The Energy Department has said that 100,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel recycled at the plant from 1953 to about 1975 contained trace amounts of plutonium.
The state has said traces of plutonium found near the plant were in similar, insignificant amounts to those found elsewhere and posed no significant public risk.
In addition to the DOE investigation, Mr. Patton has appointed a team of top state officials to look into the allegations and to address health, safety and environmental concerns at the plant.
Controls adequate
“With the information that we have received so far, I find no immediate danger to either workers or people living in this area at this time,” he said during a news conference after the tour.
If former plant employees or neighbors became ill or died because of exposure to the materials used and stored at the plant, they or their families should be quickly and fairly compensated, Mr. Patton said.
He said he spoke during the tour with 15 or 20 plant employees who all told him they feel safe working at the facility, which enriches uranium for use in nuclear power plants.
“Our immediate concern is the welfare of the people that live in this vicinity and the people that work at the plant,” the governor said. “The employees, several of them, said that as far as today's conditions are concerned, they believe that controls are adequate. They feel comfortable in their environment, and they are not concerned about any exposure that they are currently receiving.”
Among the others taking part in the tour were David Stadler, senior manager of the U.S. Department of Energy's investigative team; Rice Leach, commissioner of Kentucky's Department of Public Health; and Jim Bickford, secretary of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet.
Mr. Stadler said DOE had started a comprehensive two-part investigation.
The first phase, which is now under way, involves activities at the plant during this decade; the second, lengthier phase will delve into activities dating back to the 1950s.
Water monitors
He encouraged state and federal officials to work together “to identify any real issues and get them resolved as quickly as possible.”
Mr. Leach said his agency, through public documents, learned about the presence of plutonium in a ditch at the 3,000-acre plant site as early as 1989.
The documents say low-level radiation was detected and led to the installation of water monitors to determine whether the plutonium had migrated off-site.
Subsequent water- and air-sampling studies detected no plutonium had moved off the plant property, he said.
Mr. Leach also announced that the Health Department will conduct radioactivity tests of private water wells within a one-mile radius of the plant and between the plant and the Ohio River to the north.
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