Exposing Workers to Plutonium

To: Board of Directors, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant/Department of Energy

From:Hire Consultant, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant/Department

of Energy

Re: Exposing Workers to Plutonium

Date: March 1, 2012

Introduction

Ensuring employee health and keeping the companies expenses at low cost is necessary, also it is important employees are informed of the potential health risks when accepting the job. It is important for a plant to inspect the work place and surrounding areas for safety of employees and the community. The plant did not inform the workers or neighboring communities about the potential health risk from the plutonium contamination. The plant also failed to monitor the actual levels of exposure caused by radiation. This is ethically, legally, and morally wrong; this can lead the plant to a lawsuit, as well as make the plant/department of energy look bad in front of the community.

Facts Summary

In August 1999, several thousand workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, owned by the Department of Energy, were exposed to plutonium and other radioactive materials. The workers at this plant worked to produce material for bombs from uranium dust. The radioactive contaminants were found in wildlife areas and private water wells; they were also dumped into the landfills and nearby fields. The plant archive has records of plutonium contaminations but they never informed the workers about the potential health risks. Hence the workers did not wear sufficient protection while working with harmful products, causing them to experience higher rates of cancer from the ionizing radiation. In 2000, the tests revealed that plutonium was found up to 1 mile from the plant and the plutonium level was 20 times the maximally acceptable limit. Most of the pollution occurred over the 32-year period when the plant was managed by Union Carbide. According to the federal government the amounts of exposure were too small to be a risk to workers health. In...