Re: U.S. Orders Probe Of Plutonium Exposure - Report

["Charles Meyer" <Charles.Meyer@tdh.state.tx.us>]

" The Washington Post, citing court documents, plant records and 
 interviews, reported that uranium workers at the Paducah Gaseous 
 Diffusion Plant inhaled plutonium-laced dust brought into the plant 
 for 23 years until as recently as 1976.  


 The Post said plutonium was introduced to the Paducah plant, 
 designed to handle the vastly less radioactive metal uranium, in 
 tiny but highly dangerous quantities in used uranium brought to the 
 plant from 1953-1976 as part of an experimental nuclear  
 reactor fuel recycling program." 

As recently as 1976?  Get real!

I had occasionally seen references to a Tc-99 "problem" at the 
Paducah facility and over the years had wondered how a gaseous 
diffusion plant could have a problem with a fission product.  About a 
year ago I had an opportunity to visit the Paducah facility and 
learned first hand about the experiment to test the feasibility of 
recovering uranium from "slightly irradiated" fuel ( I think this is 
the way it was explained to me).  Point being, no one was hiding 
anything, and apparently, since I had read about the sequelae of the 
experiment, numerous people already knew, as should anybody who 
bothered to look a little.  So why are these three employees filing 
suit now?  Also what studies have observed the increase of cancer in 
the 1980's, four years after the recovery project began( latency 
period?) What kind(s) of cancer has(ve) shown up?

I also learned that the state of Kentucky has been monitoring the 
facility for quite a few years and has yet to call out the national 
guard.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>            
<>    Charles R. (Russ) Meyer                  <>
<> Email:charles.meyer@tdh.state.tx.us 
<>     Phone:(512)834-6688                       <>
<>        Fax:(512)834-6654                        <>
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
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