-Caveat Lector- Uranium workers unknowingly exposed to plutonium, newspaper reports Copyright � 1999 Nando Media Copyright � 1999 Associated Press WASHINGTON (August 8, 1999 12:40 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Thousands of uranium workers were unknowingly exposed to plutonium and other highly radioactive metals over a number of years at an Energy Department plant in Kentucky, The Washington Post reported. Although similar nuclear contamination occurred at a number of other sites around the country in the years before worker safety was a top priority in U.S. industrial plants, the Post said in Sunday's editions that one thing setting apart the case of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant was that workers did not know they were handling plutonium. Instead, they thought they were dealing only with much less potent uranium, the newspaper said. Unsuspecting workers inhaled the more dangerous radiation in the form of plutonium-laced dust brought into the plant for 23 years, beginning in the mid-1950s, as part of a government experiment to recycle used nuclear reactor fuel. The government and its contractors did not inform workers about the hazards for decades, even though employees in the 1980s began to notice a string of cancers, the Post said. Citing its own investigation and sealed court documents, the Post said radioactive contaminants from the plant spilled into ditches and eventually seeped into creeks, a state-owned wildlife area and private wells. Plant workers contended in court documents that radioactive waste also was deliberately dumped into nearby fields, abandoned buildings and a landfill not licensed for hazardous waste, according to the story. The Post said the Energy Department contends that worker exposure was minimal and that contamination is being cleaned up. But it notes that a lawsuit filed under seal in June by three current plant employees alleges that radiation exposure was a problem at the Paducah facility well into the 1990s. The Post said its investigation found that contractors hid facts about plutonium contamination. It said the June suit was filed under a law that allows employees to collect payment for exposing fraud against the government and has been kept under seal to give the Justice Department time to decide whether join the suit or to begin a criminal investigation. The report said none of the private companies named in the suit has been served with it and would not comment. The Post noted that Paducah is just the latest DOE facility to be hit by lawsuits and revelations of contamination. It said cleaning up the Kentucky plant is expected to cost $240 billion and take at least 75 years. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Wingate California Director SKYWATCH INTERNATIONAL Anomalous Images and UFO Files http://www.anomalous-images.com DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
