Paducah news
* 2005-03-29: NOTICES Meetings: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory BoardÑ Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, KY, 15849 [05Ð6135]
Energy Department
* 2005-03-16: U.S. Department of Energy Awards Paducah Infrastructure Services Contract
DOE
January 9, 2004
6 tons of Russian downblend gets misrouted upon arrival in US
At the docks in Norfolk on Dec 19, 2003, 6 tons of blended Russian uranium intended for Paducah enrichment plant was mistakenly put on a truck bound for a Wilmington NC fuel fabrication plant. The trucking company, Transport Logistics International, identified the mistake in time to notify the Wilmington plant of the extra material before the truck arrived. USEC was notified of the mistake after the holidays. USEC spokesperson was cited as saying that the shipment has been under tight security ever since coming into the United States: "No regulations were broken. It was never unloaded." The uranium arrived at Paducah Wednesday night.
[Source: The Paducah Sun, "Uranium shipment to Paducah gets probed", January 9, 2004]
August 20, 2003
Paducah - hazmat cleanup deal between state and feds
Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton on Wednesday signed a tentative agreement for the U.S. Department of Energy to clean up hazardous waste at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Patton said the work might begin within weeks.
The new "agreement in principle" covers toxic metals, solvents and carcinogenic materials under the state's jurisdiction. It does not cover radioactive waste, which is under federal jurisdiction, Patton said at a news conference. Nor does it affect health claims from thousands of employees who worked at the plant over the years.
The plant, which opened 50 years ago, turned uranium into nuclear fuel. Nuclear waste buried in landfills and chemicals that were used in cleaning equipment caused widespread contamination of soil and ground water... The ultimate cost of the hazardous waste cleanup is still to be determined, Patton said. "It's safe to say it's in the billion-dollar range," he said.
Under the agreement, which is to be finalized Sept. 15, the Department of Energy would be obligated to request the funding and to meet a series of deadlines, ranging from 2010 to 2019, for resolving "the five known, most critical problems" at the plant, Patton said. They include an open drainage ditch known to be polluted with solvents that are being spread by rain water. DOE and state officials have been at odds over the agreement for more than two years. DOE resisted establishing deadlines, or milestones, for completing specific projects, contending that such a process created costly bureaucracy that delayed work and wasted money. However, the state insisted on milestones to ensure that DOE keeps its promise of completing the major part of the cleanup by 2010. The state thought an agreement in principle had been reached back in April, but problems arose in establishing the milestones. All of those problems were discussed and resolved in meetings with DOE last week.
Also under the agreement, state inspectors would get to oversee the work, Patton said.
"We're under the impression ... some elements of the cleanup can begin within a matter of weeks," Patton said, citing the drainage ditch in particular. Cleaning up the ditch could take about three years, Bob Logan, commissioner of the state Department for Environmental Protection, said at the news conference.
Other targets for the first 5-year phase of the cleanup:
* Removal and cleanup of a scrap metal yard that includes thousands of tons of equipment taken out of service during an upgrade of the plant 20 years ago. The material is believed to be contributing to the contamination of groundwater.
* Cleanup of two areas that are believed to be contributing to offsite groundwater contamination. They are the C-400 building, where material was cleaned and rebuilt for many years, and the Southwest Plume.
* Interim action to make sure that landfills and burial grounds are not releasing contaminated material outside the plant.
In addition to continuing funding, the Energy Department agreed to pay a $1 million fine for violations of state hazardous-waste laws and to put $200,000 into a fund for environmental projects near the plant. Patton said the plant still produces pollution that will have to be cleaned up when the plant eventually closes, which is at least several years away.
[Refs: Bill Bartleman (Paducah Sun), "Energy Agency Nears Agreement over Cleanup at Paducah, Ky., Nuclear Fuel Plant", The Paducah Sun, August 16, 2003; Bill Bartleman (Paducah Sun), "Agreement Could Accelerate Cleanup of Paducah, Ky., Gaseous Diffusion Plant", The Paducah Sun, August 19, 2003; Charles Wolfe (AP writer), "Patton says hazardous waste cleanup at Paducah might begin in weeks", Associated Press, August 20, 2003 12:28 PM Eastern Time]
August 16, 2003
Kentucky to aggressively seek USEC's new plant for Paducah
USEC plans to decide in October where to build the 500-job, $1.5 billion gas centrifuge uranium enrichment plant. Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton said that, as he approaches the final four months of his administration, his highest priority in economic development is to persuade USEC to build its new $1.5 billion gas centrifuge uranium enrichment plant in Paducah. Patton said that when the incentive package is completed, he'll brief legislative leaders and seek their support. "It is a legislative issue and will require legislative action," Patton said. "I'll make sure there's a commitment from the legislative leadership to pass it during the 2004 session." Patton also said that at the appropriate time, he will meet with local leaders to seek their support for the incentive package and add incentives of their own.
USEC spokesperson Elizabeth Stuckle said the company plans to send bid requests to Kentucky and Ohio "by the middle of August."
USEC said in the past that the biggest drawback to building the new plant in Paducah is the concern over its being located in an earthquake zone. Making the new facility earthquake-resistant would increase construction costs. Patton has said Kentucky would try to overcome the concern in its incentive package.
[Source: The Paducah Sun, "Kentucky Governor Pledges to Fight for Nuclear Fuel Plant in Paducah", August 16, 2003]
August 14, 2003
* Citizens Advisory Bd - 7 of 18 members resign in protest
Some of the remaining board members are "as skeptical as those who quit but say they haven't given up
trying to improve rapport with DOE", a local paper reports. Member Bill Tanner, superintendent of the West McCracken
Water District, was cited as saying that most current members share various degrees of resigning members'
frustration. "This is the third or fourth accelerated cleanup plan proposed at the site. Every three to five
years, there is a new one," he said. "Then there is a change in DOE and contractor personnel
and a steep learning curve..." [Source: Joe Walker (Paducah Sun), "Seven Paducah, Ky., Gaseous Diffusion Plant Advisory Board Members Quit", The Paducah Sun, August 15, 2003]
July 31, 2003
The Paducah nuclear workers' union, which represents more than 500 of the plant's 1200 workers,
is focusing on keeping the diffusion plant open regardless of which town -- Paducah KY or Piketon OH -- gets the centrifuge plant which USEC intends as a replacement.
[Source: Leon Owens (president of the Paducah nuclear workers' union), cited in
"Paducah in running for $1.5 billion plant, 500 jobs", Associated Press, July 31, 2003]
May 10, 2003 - Bechtel Jacobs Co. LLC has voluntarily suspended waste shipments from Paducah until investigation and corrective action, after
two tractor-trailers were found to be slightly more contaminated than DOT regulations allow. The
contamination was found on both flatbeds after waste shipments were unloaded at Nevada Test Site.
Bechtel spokesperson told Nevada newspaper that source was considered most likely to be some funnel-shaped, 5-foot, hoppers.
The hoppers had been decontaminated and an adhesive spray intended to prevent leaching of contamination had been applied to the hoppers before shipment.
[Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Radioactive Residue: Inspectors find taint on trucks", May 10, 2003]
April 24, 2003
Critical Safety event report - While replacing media in a seal trap, Paducah worker failed to follow
both of the criticality control safety steps adopted to provide "double contingency" assurance.
See Paducah's event report
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Paducah - "Drum Mountain" Is Gone