Cassini Fly-by Nears
Spaceship Carrying Plutonium Will Pass Close to Earth

By Matthew Fordahl The Associated Press, ABC News, August 14, 1999
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/cassini990814.html

The plans are for Cassini to be captured by Saturn's gravity for a 5-month orbit. The $3.4-billion mission will offer an up close look at the planet and its rings. (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Artist's Rendering:
http://abcnews.go.com/media/Science/images/sci_cassini011499_250.jpg

P A S A D E N A, Calif., Aug. 14 - A two-story, $3.4 billion spacecraft carrying a load of deadly plutonium will zoom within 725 miles of Earth this week to gain momentum for the final leg of its meandering, seven-year voyage to Saturn.

Cassini's return, two years after NASA launched the largest and most expensive unmanned spacecraft ever, poses virtually no risk, mission officials say.

But anti-nuclear activists, concerned over the 72 pounds of carcinogenic cargo, aren't so sure.

"The fact is space technology can and does fail," said Bruce Gagnon of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. "And when you start using nuclear materials in increasing numbers, the odds of an accident increase."

The flyby at 8:28 p.m. PDT Tuesday will use Earth's gravity to change the probe's direction and speed relative to the sun. Without the "gravity assist" and two previous close encounters with Venus and a future flyby of Jupiter, the probe would never reach its destination in 2004 to study Saturn's rings and moons.

Chances of Re-Entry Small

The probe will approach Earth at about 35,000 mph. Its speed will increase by about 11,000 mph after the swingby. At its closest point over the South Pacific, the probe might be visible from Pitcairn or the Easter islands.

NASA has used planets' gravity to fling its probes through space since 1973. The plutonium-powered Galileo probe to Jupiter twice swung by Earth in the early 1990s at altitudes much lower than Cassini's closest point.

The chances of an accidental re-entry of Cassini are about 1 in 1.2 million, according to a NASA estimate.

"It's just not a credible event," said Bob Mitchell, Cassini's program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. "I'm not telling you it's impossible, but it's just not credible."

Activists fear that some sort of navigation or human error could cause the craft to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, showering the planet with deadly plutonium dioxide.

Plutonium Powers Instruments

The spacecraft requires plutonium not for propulsion but to power its dozen scientific instruments. The probe's three radioisotopic thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, convert heat from the naturally decaying plutonium into electricity.

The units were built especially strong in case of an accident during launch or flyby. Each pellet is boxed in layers of heat- and corrosion-resistant iridium and graphite.

Mitchell said for re-entry to occur, a failure aboard the probe would have to cause an exact change in its speed before the flyby. And then something would have to happen to prevent NASA from transmitting corrective orders.

"We've been flying this thing for two years now and we got a lot of practice," he said.

Even if the capsules were to vaporize during an accidental re-entry, the effects on Earth's population over 50 years would be less than the amount of radiation from dental X-rays or a round-trip flight across the United States, according to NASA.

[This story showed up all over the place!]

Activists fear Saturn probe will go awry
NASA: Cassini flyby poses virtually no risk
BY MATTHEW FORDAHL Associated Press, August 15, 1999, in the San Jose Mercury News
http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/world/docs/cassini15.htm

Plutonium-laden probe due to zoom by Earth
Sunday, August 15, 1999 Cleveland Live
http://www.cleveland.com/news/pdnews/metro/w15cass.ssf

Spacecraft loaded with plutonium to zoom by Earth on way to Saturn
August 15, 1999, Evansville (Illinois) Courier Press
http://www.courierpress.com/cgi/view.cgi?/199908/15/+nuke_stuff_news.html+19990815+news

Space probe's return renews plutonium fears
Sunday, August 15, 1999 Bergen (New Jersey) News
http://www.bergen.com/morenews/cassin1519990815.htm

-----------

The Weakest Link -- -- Emergency Diesel Generators

by Scott D. Portzline - Three Mile Island Alert - August, 1999
http://www.tmia.com/EDGs.html

The most worrisome defect is the emergency diesel generators(EDGs). During a "station blackout" (loss of offsite power) these generators supply the electricity needed to bring the plant to a safe shutdown. If they fail, the chance of an accident approaches certainty. Former NRC Chairman Dr. Shirley Jackson said, "NRC reviews in recent years have left no doubt that a station blackout at a nuclear power station is a major contributor to reactor core damage frequency." The NRC claims a 97.5 reliability rate but watchdogs say it is lower. Nearly every month, the EDGs fail at a nuclear plant; fortunately not during a station blackout.

When a tornado struck the Davis Besse plant (same design as TMI) in Ohio in June 1998, for 41 nervous hours an array of equipment problems complicated efforts to keep the reactor under control. One of the two EDGs overheated and the other failed briefly due to a faulty relay switch. It was a close call which caused the plant's emergency director to say, "For a few minutes your heart goes up into your throat.'' This station blackout also caused the temperature of the spent fuel pool to increase to the point where water would be lost. Nuclear plants currently don't have an emergency power supply for these pools. A petition has been filed by the Nuclear Information and Resource Services (NIRS) to add this safety feature. Fires have temporarily knocked out the EDGs at the Limerick and Crystal River nuclear plants in recent years. Six years ago, TMI's EDGs were inoperable for one month before the problem was discovered. Last year, TMI's EDGs were labeled a "fire hazard" by an NRC administrator who said they were as "ugly as I have ever seen" because of leaking oil. TMI has since "cleaned up" that situation.

At a June 15, 1999 Y2K meeting between the NRC and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), I recounted what the administrator said about TMI. The vice-president of NEI answered, "So what? As long as they are up to regulations." This is the same kind of arrogance that led to the TMI accident.

The NRC does not draw a clear line for Y2K safety. The General Accounting Office (GAO) stated that despite six major reviews over two decades of NRC regulatory oversight, the NRC still does not adequately define safety. For example: the very same valve which caused the loss-of-coolant accident at TMI 20 years ago is still not rated as a safety component.

The NRC's assurances that all safety systems are Y2K ready does not rest well with TMIA. When Peach Bottom lost its safety parameter display for seven hours during a Y2K test, the NRC claimed that safety wasn't compromised. This system was added to every plant as a result of the TMI accident. Sometimes the NRC's judgment defies common sense. The GAO is now recommending that state public utility commissions publicize descriptions of the probable and worst case Y2K scenarios.

The NRC will permit plants to violate their licenses to keep them online come January 1, 2000. This situation is reminiscent of the Challenger explosion where rocket engineers were literally told to "remove your engineering hats and put on your management hats" to get the "green light" for the mission.

Resident inspectors at each plant will grant safety exemptions to plants in an effort to protect grid stability rather than public health and safety from radioactivity which is the NRC's statutory mandate. With millions of lives at stake, the NRC would do well to strengthen the emergency diesel generators by thorough testing and requiring an additional backup power source as petitioned by NIRS. The NRC is now three months late for its own deadline for responding to the NIRS petitions.

Emergency Diesel Generator Defects at US Nuclear Plants
as reported by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

This database includes incidents and reports from January 1, 1999 to the present. It shows that defects and problems occur on a weekly basis. There are 32 reports affecting virtually half (49.5%) of all US commercial nuclear plants so far this year.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied a petition for rule-making regarding additional backup power supplies on August 12,1999. The NRC was three months late on making its decision and claims a 98% reliabilty rate for emergency diesel generators.

South Texas, Texas: August 12, 1999 Emergency diesel generator inoperable for 3 days in July 1999.

Cooper, Nebraska: August 12, 1999 Degraded backup power supply batteries.

Millstone, Connecticut: August 11, 1999 Diesel generator degraded for 32 days. Company was aware of suspected low voltage problem but mistakenly believed it was acceptable.

Nine Mile Point, New York: August 11, 1999 During troubleshooting of a speed control problem the diesel generator experienced an inadvertent start-up .

Nine Nuclear Plants: August 5, 1999 Manufacturer reports a premature overvoltage protection actuation during diesel generator loading which could affect 9 plants.

Cook, Michigan: July 27, 1999 All four diesel generators are declared inoperable but still functional. Discovery of condition which could leave EGDs inoperable following a tornado.

Beaver Valley, Pennsylvania: July 16 - 17, 1999 Diesel Generator fails during test due to voltage and current problems. Battery chargers become inoperable. Generator restart faulty. Batteries are inoperable. Plant shutting down. Pumps inoperable briefly.

Pilgrim, Massachusetts: July 16, 1999 An existing modification of the circuit logic would prevent bus from energizing properly from diesel generators.

Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho: July 12, 1999 (not a commercial power reactor) Two diesel generators fails following a fire at substation. No fuel from Three Mile Island remains onsite.

Pilgrim, Massachusetts: July 5, 1999 Both diesel generators for Unit 1 outside design basis due to high room temperature..

Cook, Michigan: June 25, 1999 Diesel generator oil lubrication valve installed backwards. Uncertainty about the ability to operate for 7 days has caused the EDG to be declared inoperable

Kewaunee Wisconsin: June 14, 1999 Diesel generator declared inoperable due to misadjusted speed sensor. This event report was later retracted.

Ginna, New York: June 10, 1999 Both diesel generators inoperable. There would have been an inability to automatically respond to an event coincident with a loss of offsite power.

Summer, South Carolina: May 5, 1999 Faulty circuit breaker identified as substantial safety hazard used with diesel generators.

Six Nuclear Plants: April 28, 1999 Manufacturer reports a potential defect in connecting rod assemblies, which are components of diesel generator systems.

Nine Mile Point, New York: April 24, 1999 Reactor scram. Diesel Generator starts but fails to load. Partial loss of lighting in the control room. Loss of lighting in turbine building. Loss of site perimeter lighting. Natural circulation of coolant.

Arkansas Nuclear, Arkansas: April 23, 1999 During Y2K testing, would not properly load. Only 500 Kw, instead of its expected load of 4400 Kw.

Point Beach, Michigan: April 20, 1999 Design defect could have disabled diesel generators.

Susquehanna, Pennsylvania: April 17, 1999 Operator switching error causes diesel generator to be inoperable.

Beaver Valley, Pennsylvania: April 9, 1999 Following instructions in operator's manual could have caused diesel generators to fail.

Ginna, New York: April 9, 1999 Missing oil drain port could have caused serious diesel generator damage.

Cook, Michigan: April 7, 1999 Design defect could cause long-term operational failure of diesel generator following a seismic event.

Seabrook, New Hampshire: March 31, 1999 Defective relay might not have allowed bus to load to diesel generator.

Grand Gulf, Mississippi: March 25, 1999 Diesel Generator declared inoperable due to leaking oil. The event was later retracted when it was discovered that it was not necessary to declare it inoperable

South Texas, Texas: March 12, 1999 Diesel Generator output circuit breaker failed to close.

Pilgrim, Massachusetts: February 25, 1999 Temperature of diesel generator building fell below design due to winter storm.

Wolf Creek, Kansas: February 18,1999 Improper switching could have caused fire and loss of diesel generators

River Bend, Louisiana: February 2, 1999 The NRC proposes a $55,000 fine for the company's failure to correct deficiencies in the compressed air system that controls the emergency diesel generators.

San Onofre, California: February 1, 1999 Diesel generator started but did not complete circuit due to relay lockout

Fitzpatrick, New York: January 21,1999 Emergency diesel generators may have failed to energize emergency buses.

Hope Creek, New Jersey: January 20, 1999 Incorrect resistor could effect speed switch on diesel generators. This manufacturer defects also could effect 8 other US nuclear plants at Hatch, Fermi, Millstone, Beaver Valley, Limerick, Callaway and Wolf Creek which might have the same defect.

Duane Arnold, Iowa: January, 20 1999 Forced reactor shutdown after both standby diesel generators failed test to reach required voltage and frequency within the required time.

Grand Gulf, Mississippi: January 13, 1999 Diesel generator degradred due to output transformer leaking.

North Anna, Virginia: January 5,1999 Spillway emergency diesel generator declared inoperable during test. This was done in error as it was not necessary to declare it inoperable. The event notification was retracted

--------

Date Change for Satellite System May Cause Trouble

By BARNABY J. FEDER, August 16, 1999
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/08/biztech/articles/16bird.html

For unwary users of a government satellite system that guides ships and airplanes, keeps cellular networks humming and helps surveyors lay out property lines, next weekend could be marred by a disorienting flashback.

The global positioning system, or GPS, blends signals from satellites to pinpoint the location of a radio receiver -- and anyone or anything holding it -- to within 50 yards or so. Where support from ground stations is added, the question of "Where am I?" can be answered within inches. The satellite signals also answer the question "What time is it?" down to tiny fractions of a second.

Unfortunately, the system's dazzling effectiveness depends in part on a bare-bones calendar that boils passing time down to the weeks since Jan. 6, 1980 -- currently 1,023 -- plus seconds. Sticking to such basics allows the satellites to communicate quickly, but the system is about to run out of the allotted digital space for such timekeeping.

The limit will become apparent all over the world 13 seconds before 7 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Like a car's odometer reaching 100,000 miles, the system's week count will revert to zero instead of moving to 1024.

There are "some unknowns and uncertainties" about what happens next, warned John Lovell, director of quality for Trimble Navigation Ltd., a leading manufacturer of global positioning equipment.

Some confused receivers will stop working. Others will generate bad data or display 1980 dates. Still others, peering at the spots in the skies where the satellites were in January 1980, will spend hours trying to lock on to the signals.

"Users should not rely on GPS where there is a risk to life, critical data or property," Lovell said.

Experts say that for the 24 satellites broadcasting the signals and for the Defense Department ground stations that control the system, the rollover will be a nonevent, like the hands on a watch sweeping past 12. They also expect smooth sailing for well over 90 percent of the estimated 8 million global positioning radio receivers in government and civilian hands.

But some receivers, especially older models, read Week 0 as that long ago week in early 1980 when the calendar started ticking. No one knows how many receiver owners with defective equipment have ignored or missed warnings to prepare for the rollover. Lovell and others believe tens of thousands of malfunctions are quite possible, perhaps more.

"The only way to know what will happen with a device is to check with the manufacturer," said Lt. Lee Putnam, spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard Navigational Center in Arlington, Va. "You have to have the serial number as well as the model since some models were modified to become compliant during production."

Some manufacturers are charging customers for upgrades, a practice that plaintiffs' lawyers are gearing up to challenge, said Salvatore Graziano, a lawyer with the class-action firm of Milberg, Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach in New York. Milberg and others have filed similar lawsuits against software companies that have required customers to pay for Year 2000 upgrades.

The government has warned in general terms that the global positioning rollover poses "serious hazards." In some of the worst scenarios envisioned privately by officials, boaters foolish enough to rely solely on recreational GPS navigation in foggy conditions could run aground. Businesses like cellular networks that rely on GPS signals to synchronize electronic equipment or banks that use them to time-stamp transactions could be disrupted if faulty equipment has not been upgraded or backed up with other high-precision clocks.

But experts say the potential global positioning rollover problems are much more limited than the Year 2000 challenge, are easier to isolate and, perhaps most important, generally simple to overcome. Gartner Group, an information technology consulting firm in Stamford, Conn., concluded that 40 percent of the faulty equipment manufactured before 1996 could be fixed by simply turning it off and then starting it up again after the rollover.

It helps that most of the industry's growth has come in the past five years as demand surged for consumer applications like electronic mapping systems for cars. The government's published system specifications began explicitly noting the rollover date as early as 1993 and the vast majority of equipment made since then took it into account.

"But there were probably products shipped as late as this year that are at risk since they may have incorporated older programming," warned Lovell.

Fortunately, airplanes, ships and other major users of global positioning navigation systems are designed with other aids like radar. They can function safely even if the global positioning system fails completely. And businesses with major applications have reportedly been aggressively testing their systems.

"We've been deluged with requests for testing help," said Charles Fay, vice president of worldwide sales for Global Simulation Systems Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, the leading manufacturer of equipment that simulates the GPS satellite network.

In most companies, the same information technology departments leading the Year 2000 repair effort are also dealing with the satellite rollover. Defense Department agencies gearing up for any unanticipated problems during the rollover are using the weekend as a dry run for the contingency plans for dealing with computer disruptions over the New Year weekend, according to Col. James Armor, director of the joint armed forces office in Los Angeles that oversees the system.

But even if the satellite transition turns out to be smooth, government officials are cautioning against reading too much into a smooth transaction.

"People shouldn't get a false sense of security about the Year 2000 if there are no major rollover problems," said John Gribben, spokesman for the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion. "They are two separate issues."

Not that many people are treating them that way. The council itself is providing rollover information on its information hot line (888 USA-4Y2K) and Trimble Navigation, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., calls the rollover a "dress rehearsal for the Year 2000."

In part because public fears about the behavior of high-technology systems have been heightened by publicity about Y2K, as the Year 2000 computer problem is known, equipment manufacturers have prepared for a flood of rollover inquiries with briefings for dealers and customer support centers on alert.

Thomas Hunter, vice president and general manager of Magellan Systems of Santa Clara, Calif., a subsidiary of Orbital Sciences Corp. that is among the leading makers of hand-held GPS receivers popular with boaters and hikers, said, "We won't go home Friday night assuming everything is going to be OK."

Related Sites

U.S. Coast Guard Navigational Center
http://www.navcen.uscg.mil/

Global Simulation Systems Inc.
http://www.gssl.co.uk/

Magellan Systems
http://www.magellangps.com/

Trimble Navigation Ltd.
http://www.Trimble.com/

President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion
http://www.y2k.gov/
- About - http://www.y2k.gov/text/abouty2k.html
- Y2k Organizations - http://www.y2k.gov/text/adgroups.htm
- Y2K Products - http://www.y2k.gov/text/product_compliance.html

-----------

Clinton To Ask Congress To Fully Fund Foreign Aid

02:38 a.m. Aug 16, 1999 Eastern By Arshad Mohammed
http://www.dogpile.com - search newswires

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton will call on Congress Monday to fully fund his foreign affairs budget, arguing in a speech to veterans that diplomacy helps keep soldiers out of harm's way, White House officials said.

The Republican-held House of Representatives has cut the annual foreign operations bill that funds U.S. economic and some military aid, the Peace Corps and export credit to $12.62 billion from the president's $14.57 billion request.

Clinton planned to use a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Kansas City, Missouri to make the case that the money is needed to reduce weapons proliferation and promote peace in the Middle East and Africa.

``These investments in peace and security will minimize the need to put American soldiers in harm's way, but Congress has threatened to cut these critical programs by almost $2 billion,'' said White House spokesman Barry Toiv.

``Maintaining our world leadership and protecting our national security requires not only a strong military, but strong diplomacy as well,'' said a draft statement to be issued by the White House Monday.

Clinton was expected to cite aid that he pledged as part of last year's Wye River agreement between the Palestinians and Israel as a priority that has yet to be backed by the Republican-controlled Congress.

The House has not approved any of the $500 million that the president is seeking in fiscal year 2000, which begins on Oct. 1, as part of the land-for-security agreement that the president brokered last year.

Clinton was also expected to plead for more money to help Russia dismantle nuclear warheads, dispose of plutonium stocks and employ its weapons scientists to prevent their expertise from being sold to ``rogue'' states.

The president has also asked for increased funding to promote development assistance in Africa and to limit conflict through the Africa Crisis Response Initiative, which aims to enhance the peace-keeping capability of African nations.

The officials said that Clinton, who has never had an easy relationship with the military in part because of his efforts to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, would thank the veterans for their service and for their support of the NATO-led air strikes against Yugoslavia in the Kosovo conflict this year.

---

Clinton Seeks Support From Veterans

Monday, August 16, 1999; 2:15 a.m. EDT
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990816/V000751-081699-idx.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Clinton-Veterans.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton is seeking to rally veterans to his side in pressing Congress to give him all the money he sought for major items in his foreign policy agenda.

Clinton was traveling today to Kansas City, Mo., to address the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The president planned to appeal for full funding of initiatives to reduce nuclear arsenals, implement the Wye River peace accord for the Middle East and promote conflict resolution in Africa.

The House has approved a foreign operations budget of $12.7 billion for the 2000 fiscal year, about $2 billion less than Clinton requested.

Clinton also planned to ``salute Americans who have served in uniform, past and present,'' while seeking to reassure them they will receive adequate health care benefits, said White House spokesman Barry Toiv.

Some veterans said they would boycott the president's speech because he avoided military service in Vietnam and because of his record in office. But Toiv said Clinton did not anticipate a chilly reception.

``The president very much appreciates the VFW's invitation and looks forward to speaking and honoring our veterans,'' he said.

Key issues at this year's convention include long-term care for veterans and an increase in the budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs, both due to the number of rapidly aging veterans from the World War II and Korean War eras.

The VFW also is seeking a congressional sponsor for a new GI Bill for current service members and is pushing for larger defense budgets and an increase in military readiness.

The VFW has about 2 million members and is the second largest veterans' organization, after the American Legion. About 30,000 people were expected at the convention.

-----------

Start explaining
State knew about plutonium danger. Why didn't anyone protect workers?

August 15, 1999, in the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader
http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/081599/editorialdocs/815paducah-edit.htm

It seems the federal government and its contractors aren't the only ones who owe an explanation to the people of Paducah, and particularly the workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. State government also has some explaining to do.

At least a few state officials were aware for some time that plutonium had passed through a facility that supposedly handled only uranium.

Apparently, the officials assumed that what they knew was common knowledge in the community and the plant. That's beginning to look like a misguided assumption.

A lawyer, who now represents plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against previous operators of the plant, met last year with representatives of state attorney general's office and the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet. Joseph Egan told the state officials that plutonium and other highly radioactive substances had been found in a creek leading from the plant to the Ohio River.

Egan's information was no surprise to the state officials. ``Our response was, well, `There's nothing new here,' '' Natural Resources spokesman Mark York said last week.

If it was ``nothing new,'' it follows that state officials already knew about the contamination from plutonium and other heavy metals.

Meanwhile, a state Department of Public Health official told The (Louisville) Courier-Journal last week that his office had known for about 10 years that some plutonium had passed through the plant.

John Volpe, manager of the Radiation Health and Toxic Agents Branch, said he never knew how much plutonium was involved. But he knew it had been in the plant. And he said tests run by his office in 1988 found two wells outside the plant that had been contaminated by radiation in the form of technetium-99.

``I think everybody was aware of the fact that plutonium was down there,'' Volpe told The Courier-Journal. He also said he couldn't imagine the plant workers not knowing about the plutonium ``because DOE (the U.S. Department of Energy) told us.''

We can't say what the workers knew or when they knew it. Only they can answer that question. But the furor of last week, following a Washington Post story about the plutonium contamination indicates to us that the workers didn't know about the plutonium that was in the air they breathed, that was in the dust they washed into nearby ditches, that was contaminating not only the 750-acre plant but the soil and water around it.

So, we're a bit puzzled. How can state officials charged with protecting our health and environment assume that what they know is common knowledge, particularly when it relates to something as dangerous as plutonium?

---

Questions loom over nuclear plant
Energy Department investigative team to arrive this week

By JOHN LUCAS, Courier & Press Western Kentucky bureau (502) 333-4899 or jlucas@evansville.net
http://www.courierpress.com/cgi/view.cgi?/199908/15/+more_nuke_stuff_news.html+19990815+news

Mounds of radioactive scrap metal and concrete - some in stacks as tall as two- and three-story buildings - cover acres of land at the U.S. Department of Energy's uranium enrichment facility west of Paducah, Ky.

They are left over from the refurbishing of some of the buildings on the sprawling facility, where since the 1950s uranium has been enriched to make fuel for nuclear power plants and for Cold War-era weapons.

Thousands and thousands of steel cylinders - 37,475 to be precise - each containing some 14 tons of spent uranium cover acres and acres more.

Along the streets that criss-cross the 750 fenced acres of the 3,000-acre site, DOE has flagged areas known to be contaminated by radiation.

At some spots, drilling crews are pulling subsurface core samples, looking for more and deeper contamination.

The focus of that search shifted last week as allegations surfaced that previous operators of the facility had exposed workers without their knowledge to radiation from plutonium.

The allegations were made in a sealed lawsuit filed in June in the U.S. District Court here by three employees at the facility and by the Natural Resources Defense Council of Washington, D.C.

The complaint says that for more than 20 years - from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s - workers were exposed to plutonium without their knowledge and without adequate protection.

It alleges, too, that plutonium contamination leached off the DOE site through ground and surface water.

But a week after the accusations were publicized by The Washington Post, McCracken Countians, who value the facility for its 1,700 good-paying jobs, are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky's 1st District and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell have both called for congressional investigations.

And DOE Secretary Bill Richardson has ordered a full investigation.

That's in addition to a DOE report on contamination at the Paducah site due in September.

Until facts begin to emerge from those inquiries, McCracken County Judge-Executive Danny Orazine said Friday that residents there would wait to see what they're dealing with. "We really don't know what we're looking at," he said.

He noted that no consensus has been reached on the level of exposure, saying some reports suggest plutonium radiation levels were no higher than what occurs naturally.

The exposure is said to have occurred as workers processed spent nuclear fuel cells from nuclear energy plants and weapons.

"You can't condone any contamination or mishandling of products," Orazine said, "but the knowledge we had then and the technology are not what we have today."

The judge-executive described county government as an "ardent supporter" of the facility, which he said is vital to the economy of Western Kentucky.

DOE, he said, is spending "an awful lot of money" to correct off-site radiation contamination detected in the early 1990s.

Groundwater testing then showed radioactive materials in wells of people who live near the plant. DOE subsequently extended treated water lines to those residences.

McConnell, who met with facility managers, DOE supervisors and workers on Thursday, said, however, that he would be skeptical if DOE's investigation showed plutonium exposure had been insignificant.

A DOE team sent in June after the lawsuit was filed did not uncover any imminent threats to the public health, worker safety or the environment, according to Richardson.

In ordering the new investigation this week, Richardson said, "I am determined to uncover more about what actually occurred, who was responsible and what must be done to assure that it never happens again."

DOE's investigative team is to arrive in Paducah on Tuesday. Richardson has said DOE will initiate a study of worker medical histories since the 1950s as well as enhanced health monitoring procedures for present workers.

DOE has also asked the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science to independently investigate the relationship between hazardous exposures and illnesses in workers at Paducah and other DOE energy sites.