The Department of Energy list recently released naming 577 national sites that may have links to the nuclear weapons program dates back before to the Manhattan Project was made in 1995.

        Here are the Tristate sites from the original list of 577 and their status, according to documents posted on Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers Web sites and additional Enquirer research.

        Sites originally made their way onto the list a variety of ways:

        • DOE officials knew they were government sites where nuclear weapons-related work was done, or they were private sites where government contractors did such work.

        • Private or government sites that didn't receive radioactive materials but where engineering or other work was carried out.

        • Concerns, inquiries or allegations about nuclear weapons activities were made.

        Some sites were listed as eliminated because they didn't meet screening criteria. Generally, that was because they never received radioactive materials. Some sites received small amounts of materials or they were kept in a contained states. In a few cases, DOE lacked legal authority for cleanup, but referred the matter to the appropriate state and federal officials.

        • Fosdick Machine Shop in Oxford — eliminated.

        • Ohmart — Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.

        Both this Oakley company and its neighbors were surprised by its inclusion in the list. Ohmart/Vega Corp., 4241 Allendorf Road, does handle radioactive material. It has a license from the NRC to obtain, store and use small amounts of cesium-137, which is used in its measuring devices.

        The radioactive material, purchased from another company, comes encased in double-walled stainless steel capsules that are installed in gauges and shipped to customers.

        • University of Cincinnati — NRC license, according to DOE records.

        UC officials were contacted by the Enquirer but had no further information.

        • Fernald — under cleanup.

        Cleanup of the former uranium-processing plant in Crosby Township began in 1991. When the multibillion-dollar job is completed in 2008, the site will be a grass- or concrete-covered mound 15 feet high and about half a mile long.

        • Air Force Plant 36 — cleaned up.

        On the southern end of General Electric Aircraft Engine's Evendale complex, the government-owned site — later renamed Buildings B and C by GE — was where GEAE studied nuclear propulsion of aircraft for the Department of Defense. The project was scrapped in the 1960s; the area was decontaminated in the 1970s; the buildings were demolished in the 1990s.

        GE also was listed as having an NRC license.

        Back in the 1950s and '60s, there also was nothing secret about GEAE's efforts on the nuclear-powered aircraft, said Rick Kennedy, a GEAE spokesman.

        In fact, the 1964 Cincinnati Reds yearbook contains a picture of Reds catcher Johnny Edwards in a lab coat at GE, where he worked in the program in the off-season.

        GEAE was a contractor to the U.S. government, which tried to develop a bomber that could fly around the clock using nuclear fuel, Mr. Kennedy said.

        The program was killed by then President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s, although GEAE continued to do some nuclear propulsion research until about 1964.

        Although the research involved nuclear material, none was buried on the sprawling Evendale plant site, Mr. Kennedy said.

        • Tech-Art Inc. — considered by DOE for addition to the national cleanup, but not yet included on it.

        No further information about the site in Milford or its status was available.

        • Magnus Brass Manufacturing Inc. — documents provided by DOE to the federal and Ohio EPA.

        No further information about the site or its precise location in Cincinnati was available.

        • Alba Craft — cleaned up.

        This site at 10-14 W. Rose Ave. in Oxford was an H-shaped laboratory in a residential neighborhood. It provided a variety of machine shop services on uranium metal for National Lead of Ohio, the prime contractor at Fernald when the plant was operating. Alba Craft also did work for the federal government's Savannah River and Hanford reactors, according to Army Corps of Engineers documents.

        A 1992 survey found soil contamination outside the building, as well as interior contamination. The building was decontaminated and demolished in the fall of 1994. In addition, a residential property owned by Alba Craft's founder was found to be contaminated and cleaned up in 1994, the Corps documents show. The cleanup cost $4 million.

        • Associated Aircraft Tool and Manufacturing Co. — cleaned up.

        This site at 2400 Dixie Highway in Fairfield, now Force Control Industries, is a machine shop. In addition to early work for the Manhattan Project, Associated Aircraft in 1956 won a contract from the Atomic Energy Commission and National Lead (Fernald's operator) to machine uranium slugs for use at the Hanford and Savannah River reactors. A 1992 survey found contamination inside and out. The cleanup, completed in 1995, cost $3 million.

        • The former Lodge and Shipley machine tool plant in Camp Washington — eliminated.

        • Cincinnati Milling and Machining Co. — NRC license.

        No further information was available about this Oakley site, now operated by Cincinnati Machine.

        • Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Co. (later Diebolt Safe Co.) — cleaned up.

        The site in Hamilton was used to machine uranium slugs intermittently from the 1940s to 1950s, DOE documents show. The first and second floors of the building were decontaminated, but a subsequent review showed the third floor had been used for the same work and hadn't been cleaned. Decontamination was completed in February 1995 and cost federal taxpayers $1 million.

        • American Steel Foundries in Bond Hill — eliminated. The site is now a lumber yard.

        • The old Gruen Watch Co. in Norwood — eliminated.

        • R.W. Le Blond Machine Tool Co. — considered for addition to the DOE/Corps cleanup list.

        No further information about the site or its precise location in Cincinnati was available.

        • DuBois Chemical Co. in Cincinnati — eliminated.

        • The former John Von Range Co. (division of Edwards Manufacturing) in Cincinnati — eliminated.

        • Queen City Barrel in Lower Price Hill — eliminated.

        • Processes Research Inc. in Cincinnati — eliminated.

        • Charles Taylor and Sons in Cincinnati — considered for addition to the DOE/Corps cleanup, but not yet included on it.

        No further information about the site or its precise location in Cincinnati was available.

        • Mitchell Steel Co. in Cincinnati — DOE lists its possible addition to the DOE/Corps cleanup list as “TBD” — to be decided.

        No further information about the site or its precise location in Cincinnati was available.

        • Dresser-Stacey Co. Stacey Bros. division in Cincinnati — DOE lists its possible addition to the DOE/Corps cleanup list as “TBD,” or to be decided.

        No further information about the site or its precise location in Cincinnati was available.

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