Pike County, Ohio School to be Closed all Next Year after Radioactive Material Detected Inside .... [Another Case of Unfounded Fear of Radioactivity Combined with Mistrust of Government]

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Related Environmental Issues / Environmental Impact - Cases, Nuclear Wastes (Used Fuel)

Zahn’s Corner Middle School will be closed all of next year as a precaution after enriched uranium was detected inside the building. The school will be closed the entire 2019-2020 school year for the safety of the kids in the school district, according to Scioto Valley Local School District Board President Brandon Wooldridge. Students in the fourth and fifth grades will attend Jasper Elementary School. Piketon High School will house classes for sixth graders. A determination on the 2020-21 school year will be made at a later date.

The school sits just miles from a uranium enrichment plant which has been undergoing a cleanup and decontamination, raising fear of airborne radioactive particles in the area. The plant is now an environmental cleanup site and concern from health officials continues to grow. The U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to pay for a third party testing of the air both in and around Zahn’s Corner Middle School. Local leaders plan to submit their selection of which organization will perform those tests this week. “Hopefully, by the close of business tomorrow, we’ll have something sent to DOE as far as what we’re wanting for the independent assessment, then we’ll wait for comments from DOE,” said Matt Brewster, the Pike County Health Commissioner.

The DOE previously released the following statement about the radioactive material discovered in the area:

"Routine air samples in the area of DOE’s Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon revealed trace amounts of two radiological isotopes that were more than 1,000 to 10,000 times below the established threshold of public health concern. DOE treats all detections seriously – even those that are at such low levels.

"The Department of Energy is committed to the safety, health and protection of our workforce, the general public and the environment at all our sites. Accordingly, we are working together with the local officials and stakeholders to engage an independent third party to perform an additional analysis of the air and ground readings to properly assess the situation. We are confident that those findings will allay any cause for further concern."

[This article represents another case of some citizens' lack of trust of federal agencies, especially dealing with radiological isotopes; some citizens don't understand that our abilities can now detect extremely small concentrations of such isotopes. Just because they were detected does not mean that they are hazardous to human health. When combining a fear of radioactivity with mistrust of governments, ignorant citizens make bad decisions. This article represents one example.]