Uranium plant leak prompts investigation
| METROPOLIS, Ill.
Honeywell says there's no evidence that a weekend leak of a compound used in聽uranium聽enrichment at its southern Illinois聽plant聽escaped the building.
Company spokesman Peter Dalpe says no injuries resulted from the leak of聽uranium聽hexafluoride Sunday night at Honeywell's site in Metropolis. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been notified, and Reuters reported Wednesday that an inspector from the NRC started an investigation Tuesday, according to NRC spokesman Roger Hannah.聽
"At this point we're still in a fact-finding mode," Mr. Hannah told Reuters. "We haven't come to any conclusions about whether processes weren't followed." He said the investigation could take a few days to a week.
The聽plant聽helps make nuclear fuel, and still is operating.
It was not immediately clear Monday how much of the聽uranium聽hexafluoride was released.
The leak comes at a time the company and union-backed workers at the Massac County聽plant聽are embroiled in a contract dispute. Employees have been locked out of the site since August.
