8,000 pounds of depleted U

["Harry Hinks" <harryhinks@hotmail.com>]

I don't know of an area anywhere in the world that has had more depleted 
uranium released then this on described below.

http://www.thehawkeye.com/daily/stories/ln25018.html

By Mike Augspurger
The Hawk Eye

•  University of Iowa health research team continues gathering information.

One man rolled his oxygen tank around Memorial Auditorium before he heard 
the latest news about a health study of former Iowa Army Ammunition Plant 
workers who assembled nuclear bombs.

Elderly former workers hobbled up the stairs for the meeting conducted by 
the University of Iowa College of Public Health.

Hands of others shook as they filled out forms that may help determine if 
former Atomic Energy Commission employees at IAAP were exposed to radiation 
and other health hazards.

The meeting Wednesday night was the area's second public gathering sponsored 
by the researchers whose project is being funded by a $500,000 U.S. 
Department of Energy grant.

Dr. Laurence Fuortes, who heads the study group, said an estimated 4,000 
employees worked on Line 1. He also said several other people may have 
worked in nonnuclear areas controlled by the U.S. Army, but also did some 
jobs for the AEC when it was assembling nuclear weapons for nearly three 
decades at the Middletown plant.

Besides radioactive materials, health researchers believe workers may have 
been exposed to other hazardous materials such as heavy metals, solvents and 
epoxies.

Kristina Venzke, who is a member of the research team, said about 560 people 
so far have signed up for the survey since the study began in August.

"About 60 percent of them are from Line 1," she said.

More people signed up this week, but Fuortes clarified that the DOE study 
only includes those who had a part in production of nuclear weapons.

Former IAAP workers who were employed in other areas of the 19,000-acre 
facility by the U.S. Army are not eligible to be part of this particular 
study, Fuortes told the nearly 300 people who attended.

"Those workers may have some valid concerns. But this project is focusing on 
a small subset at the plant," he said.

U of I researchers, however, will take information from workers who were not 
directly involved with Line 1.

"We would try and act as a university to help with health concerns," Fuortes 
said.

During the first year, researchers are trying locate nuclear workers through 
a telephone call-in. The researchers also are going through about 60,000 
file cards at IAAP to find former Line 1 workers.

In the second year of the multiyear project, the workers will be surveyed 
more, with concentrations on medical screenings and personnel health 
records.

The researchers would review the data and, hopefully, come up with a medical 
linkage. They then would begin a work history and health assessment of 
workers.

Fourtes said IAAP was the only place in the United States where nuclear 
weapons were assembled from 1949 through 1951. Nuclear production continued 
at the plant through the mid-1970s, when work was transferred to the Pantex 
plant in Texas.

"This was one of the most classified of the work settings," he said of 
nuclear production in the United States.

Recent federal action, however, now allows former IAAP workers to discuss 
their possible health concerns with their doctors, health researchers and 
the public.

Besides assembling weapons, the AEC conducted 701 hydroshot tests from 1965 
to 1973 which released 8,800 pounds of depleted uranium into the air. 
Depleted uranium, which is a heavy metal, eventually would drift back to the 
ground.

Although the government says that nuclear-related workers all had badges 
that detected radiation exposure, Fuortes said they have found about 400 
workers who didn't have exposure data listed at IAAP.

Fuortes said studies have shown that radiation often increases the chances 
of cancer in the human body, especially leukemia and possibly Hodgkin's 
disease.

Harry Hinks
harryhinks@hotmail.com


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html