Potentially deadly nuclear leak hid from public

Potentially deadly nuclear leak hid from public
AP
Updated: 9:01 p.m. ET Aug. 20, 2007


KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A three-year veil of secrecy in the name of national security was used to keep the public in the dark about the handling of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear fuel processing plant — including a leak that could have caused a deadly, uncontrolled nuclear reaction.

The leak turned out to be one of nine violations or test failures since 2005 at privately owned Nuclear Fuel Services Inc., a longtime supplier of fuel to the U.S. Navy’s nuclear fleet.

The public was never told about the problems when they happened. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission revealed them for the first time last month when it released an order demanding improvements at the company, but no fine.

In 2004, the government became so concerned about releasing nuclear secrets that the commission removed more than 1,740 documents from its public archive — even some that apparently involved basic safety violations at the company, which operates a 65-acre gated complex in tiny Erwin, about 120 miles north of Knoxville.

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Some 35 liters, or just over 9 gallons, of highly enriched uranium solution leaked from a transfer line into a protected glovebox and spilled onto the floor. The leak was discovered when a supervisor saw a yellow liquid “running into a hallway” from under a door, according to one document.

~snip~

Meanwhile, NFS told its 700 employees this past week it will be “exploring the possibility of a sale” over the next 12 months — not because of the commission’s disclosure, but because of the company’s increasing value to a booming nuclear power industry.


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:kick:

They didn't know they had a 9 gallon leak until some yellow crap flowed out from under a door? And the bushes helped keep these incompetent idiots in the nuclear fuel processing business? And now they want to sell the mess to the Communist Chinese no doubt. Maybe they shouldn't have hired all those HB1 visa workers at $1/hour.

I live right near this idiotic corporation. These incompetent greedy bastards are going to end up killing all of us.