Memo Cites Paducah Exposure Risk

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Memo Cites Paducah Exposure Risk  

WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 1,600 tons of nuclear weapons parts are 
scattered around a uranium enrichment complex in Kentucky, possibly 
posing a risk of exposure to workers, according to excerpts of a memo 
published today.  

The Washington Post obtained the memo written by Raymond G. Carroll, 
a senior manager at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant since 1992, 
that was sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In it, Carroll 
said another plant official told him he was worried about the bomb 
parts after hearing of their existence from a Department of Energy 
official.  

Carroll said he was told DOE was investigating the matter but would 
not voluntarily share their findings with the plant's managers. ``I 
find this situation to be unconscionable,'' Carroll wrote.  

DOE leases part of the complex to U.S. Enrichment Corp., which 
enriches uranium for commercial nuclear power plant fuel. When the 
plant was operated by the federal government, it also enriched 
uranium for nuclear weapons.  

USEC issued a statement today saying it has discussed the subject 
with DOE officials and does not believe any of the materials are 
stored on its space.  

``USEC has been assured that DOE is not aware of any condition that 
creates radiological hazards to USEC personnel at the site beyond 
those already known and controlled,'' the company said.  

Carroll wrote that he learned about the bomb parts from radiation 
protection manager Orville Cypret, a USEC employee. Carroll stated 
that Cypret said he learned about the components from Dale Jackson, 
who previously managed the plant for DOE.  

Carroll said Cypret told him the weapons components had been shipped 
to Paducah since the 1950s. Although some parts were buried, others 
were in aboveground storage shelters, Carroll stated. He said the 
components were not labeled, in keeping with security policy.  

``Personnel could conceivably encounter highly enriched uranium or 
plutonium (or even tritium) without ever knowing it,'' Carroll wrote.

The Post quoted an unidentified DOE official who said the department 
is investigating ``classified national security programs'' conducted 
at Paducah in the past, along with the Justice and Defense 
departments.  

Last summer, DOE acknowledged radioactive plutonium and neptunium had 
entered the plant in uranium ``tails,'' recycled uranium metal from 
military reactors that produced plutonium. But in his statement, 
Carroll said he was told ``large quantities'' of plutonium and highly 
enriched uranium had been brought into the plant ``not just in 
reactor tails.''  

Disclosure of Carroll's memo comes one day after DOE released a 
report that found Paducah workers were exposed to high levels of 
radiation on the job between 1952 and 1990.  

DOE and NRC officials did not immediately return phone calls today  
from The Associated Press.

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
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Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/scperle
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