Honeywell plant fails to report emergency
Source: The Southern Illinoisan
4 hours ago • By Nick Mariano
METROPOLIS -- Honeywell officials failed to recognize that the escape of potentially hazardous gas from the Metropolis plant last month warranted an emergency classification, a federal regulatory agency said Thursday.
Officials with Honeywell Metropolis Works had twice reported the Oct. 26 incident in which uranium hexafluoride had leaked inside one of its buildings as not rising to emergency thresholds set by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Though some of the leaked material, some six pounds -- solidified and was contained to the building, according to the NRC, some of it also vaporized into a non-radioactive gas, hydrogen fluoride, and escaped from the building.
A video shot by locked-out union workers picketing the plant and posted on YouTube shows what appears to be a plume of gas coming from the Feed Materials Building where the leak occurred....
Read more: http://thesouthern.com/news/local/honeywell-plant-fails-to-report-emergency/article_aa0c915f-9a73-5dd4-82af-f1ec29c0de59.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
USW: Contractor-Installed Equipment Involved in Suspected Major Leak at Honeywell Plant: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014930376
Source: USW
Metropolis, Ill. – The United Steelworkers (USW) union is calling for an investigation after photos and videos taken Sunday evening showed suspected hazardous gas escaping the Honeywell uranium conversion facility in Metropolis, Ill.
The suspected release of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) comes nearly three months after Honeywell locked out 150 USW Local 7-669 members on Aug. 2 and replaced a group of experienced and well-trained workers with temporary laborers who lack adequate experience in dealing with hazardous substances.
“It is time for Honeywell to end this senseless lockout, return these 150 experienced workers to their jobs, and come to terms on a new, fair contract agreement,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.
“Furthermore, the USW calls on U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who represents at least half of the permanent Honeywell workforce, to seek a full investigation into this incident to make sure it never happens again. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) must perform an independent investigation of the release and the failed response.”
FULL story at link.
It's the uranium left over after removing the uranium isotope useful for making nuclear weapons and most sorts of nuclear "fuel."
In a rational world (if enriched uranium was even made in the first place) it would be converted into less toxic forms as it was produced.
Instead, in our hurry to build nuclear weapons, nuclear powered warships, and power plants, huge amounts of uranium hexafluoride was simply stashed away in barrels.
Worse, some of it was turned into depleted uranium metal ammunition which was used extensively in Iraq, and other wars, poisoning everyone in the vicinity including our own soldiers.
Cleaning up the mess made by sloppy enriched uranium production and the use of depleted uranium ammunition is one of many huge debts 20th century mankind has dumped on future generations.
The U.S.A. alone has about half a million tons of depleted uranium in storage, and it's costing billions every year to convert it to more stable forms.
Leaky uranium hexafluoride cylinder:
Typical uranium hexafluoride storage yard:
