-Caveat Lector-
"Readings were hundreds of times above radiation levels found naturally
in soil and nine times higher than the level of radioactivity that would
demand immediate action to seal off contaminated areas
"Lab tests confirmed the presence of technetium, a radioactive metal
that travels quickly through soil ..."
Radioactive Ooze Found Outside Plant
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal officials confirmed that a radioactive black ooze
found seeping outside the fence of a Kentucky uranium enrichment plant led
workers to a burial ground for radioactive debris.
Contract workers chanced upon the material near an unused sanitary landfill
at the Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Ky., The Washington Post reported
Sunday.
Preparing to install wells to monitor another possible contamination site
near the landfill, which closed in 1996, the workers found the ooze July 15.
The workers dug beneath a tar-like liquid found in a track left by their
drilling truck and turned up what appeared to be bits of tar paper and
asphalt shingles.
An Energy Department report said ``observations indicated possible roofing
debris.''
Not until three weeks later, after further excavation, did plant officials
learn the material was contaminated, the newspaper said. Radioactivity
readings were hundreds of times above levels found naturally in soil and
almost nine times higher than the plant's ``action level,'' which would
trigger immediate action to seal contaminated areas inside the plant.
Lab tests confirmed the presence of uranium and technetium. Technetium, a
radioactive metal that travels quickly through soil, was brought into the
plant inadvertently in the 1950s, '60s and '70s in shipments of recycled
uranium from government nuclear reactors used to produce plutonium.
Energy Department officials fenced off the site and reported the discovery to
Kentucky's environmental regulators.
Both the Department of Energy and the plant's current manager, U.S.
Enrichment Corp., have contended that they are unaware of radioactive waste
going into the sanitary landfill. Documents prepared by former contractors
list the contents of the dump as ``uncontaminated trash and garbage.'' The
landfill is ``permitted and operated according to Kentucky regulations,''
according to plant records.
An Energy Department investigation is in the second week at the plant, which
for 47 years has produced enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, Navy
submarines and commercial power plants. Reports of contamination and sloppy
waste management at the plant, including worker exposure to plutonium and
other highly radioactive materials, prompted the investigation.
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