DoomsdaysCW<p>A small town in rural Ohio is producing <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnrichedHranium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EnrichedHranium</span></a> again. Here's why that matters</p><p>The Ohio Newsroom | By Erin Gottsacker<br>Published April 18, 2024 </p><p>"When Centrus Energy flipped three switches at its new plant last fall, it was a new beginning for an industry that had been dormant for more than a decade in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ohio" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Ohio</span></a>: <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/UraniumEnrichment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>UraniumEnrichment</span></a>.</p><p>"As the U.S. looks to meet its clean energy [sic] goals, there’s increasing demand for the resource, which is necessary for nuclear power generation.</p><p>"For years, the U.S. didn’t have a American-owned source of enriched uranium. (A subsidiary of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Urenco" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Urenco</span></a> enriches <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/uranium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>uranium</span></a> in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NewMexico" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NewMexico</span></a>, but it's owned by a conglomeration of foreign governments and European-based businesses.) Now, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CentrusEnergy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CentrusEnergy</span></a> is attempting to fill in the gap. And it’s doing that at a plant in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PiketonOhio" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PiketonOhio</span></a>.</p><p>[...]</p><p>"Some locals aren’t thrilled. One group worries about the industry’s connection to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearWeapons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearWeapons</span></a>. Others fear the waste from the plant could <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/contaminate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>contaminate</span></a> the surrounding <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/environment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>environment</span></a>. The specter of the last time <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/uranium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>uranium</span></a> was being enriched in Piketon looms large: many former plant workers get federal compensation because of illnesses they sustained as a result of exposure to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/toxic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>toxic</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/radioactive" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>radioactive</span></a> materials.</p><p>"'I feel violated,' said Vina Colley, a former worker at the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PortsmouthGaseousDiffusionPlant" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PortsmouthGaseousDiffusionPlant</span></a>. 'They said I would get more radiation by getting on the plane than working out here.'</p><p>"In the time since she worked at the plant, she’s battled <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/beryllium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>beryllium</span></a> disease, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ChronicBronchitis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ChronicBronchitis</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/COPD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>COPD</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/neuropathy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>neuropathy</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HeartFailure" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HeartFailure</span></a>."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://www.wvxu.org/2024-04-18/a-small-town-in-rural-ohio-is-now-the-only-place-in-america-producing-enriched-uranium" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">wvxu.org/2024-04-18/a-small-to</span><span class="invisible">wn-in-rural-ohio-is-now-the-only-place-in-america-producing-enriched-uranium</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoUraniumEnrichment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NoUraniumEnrichment</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RadioactiveContamination" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RadioactiveContamination</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NewNuclear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NewNuclear</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Uranium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Uranium</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HALEU" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HALEU</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/UF6" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>UF6</span></a></p>