Regarding the chemical explosion at the Tenn Nuke Plant -

I have been trying to followup on this news story - It was a big story when similar incident happened in Japan/Korea....I've only seen a tiny UPI news article,,,,seen nothing on the TV news (cabel or local), heard nothing on the radio....

Explosion at Tenn. nuclear weapons plant Thursday, 9 December 1999 2:55 (GMT)

(UPI Focus) Explosion at Tenn. nuclear weapons plant

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 8 (UPI) - Ten workers were injured on Wednesday in a chemical explosion at a Department of Energy nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee.

Officials said seven workers were treated at the Oak Ridge Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and three workers were hospitalized. Authorities believe the explosion occurred after a volatile sodium- potassium mixture used as a cooling agent in the casting of nuclear warheads spilled into the bottom of a furnace.

Plant officials said the workers were exposed to limited amounts of radioactive contamination because of depleted uranium in the crucible.

Bob Van Hook, president of Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, which operates the facility for the Department of Energy, said nothing was released from the site that would have affected the public or employees

Van Hook said about 50 people were evacuated from the million-square- foot building where the explosion took place. The building has been sealed off for investigators.

The Energy Department's assistant secretary for safety, David Michaels, said a "type A" investigation of the incident would be headed by David Stadler, the DOE's acting deputy assistant secretary for oversight.

-- Copyright 1999 by United Press International. All rights reserved. --

-- mmmm (mmmm@mmmm.com), December 09, 1999

Answers

Found this tidbit:

OAK RIDGE, TN: Ten workers were injured, including one seriously, by a chemical explosion at a nuclear weapons plant. The blast occurred when the workers were cleaning a welding area that had been shuttered since 1993. The U.S. Energy Department was investigating the Wednesday morning explosion at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant.

The building where the explosion occurred houses a portion of the plant's enriched uranium operation, which was shut down for five days in November because of safety problems. But the explosion was in a different section of the building and no nuclear materials were affected. Three workers were hospitalized for burns or smoke inhalation. One man suffered second-degree burns over his face and chest. The others were treated and released. The explosion occurred when the workers were attempting to mop up a sodium hydroxide alloy that had spilled. The alloy might have reacted with moisture, but the exact cause of the explosion was unclear.

http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm (scroll down to Domestic/USA)

-- dw (y2k@outhere.com), December 09, 1999.

I AGREE. I had every reasonable expectation to hear "headline news" at the very least, while listening to the radio on commute this morning. There was not a peep, not a word, not a breath of a hint or clue that there had been an accident. WHAT HAPPENED

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), December 09, 1999.

I AGREE. I had every reasonable expectation to hear "headline news" at the very least, while listening to the radio on commute this morning. There was not a peep, not a word, not a breath of a hint or clue that there had been an accident. WHAT HAPPENED? What happened to news of the Oak Ridge explosion which exposed workers to "residual" uranium contamination, sent some to the hopsital, required evacuation of the plant, etc?

FURTHERMORE, Drudge headlinered with this story last night -- see the thread I started on this subject probably 50-60 thread down now. Drudge had it in 32-point or whatever at the top of his page, BUT IT IS NOW GONE. Not a trace, not a remainder, not even a secondary headline -- although he still has a link to the Letterman-T- shirtlaunching injury that frist went up 3 days ago.

One would therefore presume there's some kind of national security issue at stake -- not sabotage; not a threat ... but.... Y2K???!!

>"<

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), December 09, 1999.

Here is another earlier UPI article that descibes it as a CLEANING ACCIDENT

10 Hurt in Tenn. Cleaning Accident

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) -- A chemical explosion at a nuclear weapons plant injured 10 workers -- including one seriously -- who were cleaning a welding area that had been shuttered since 1993.

The Energy Department was investigating the Wednesday morning explosion at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant.

The building where the explosion occurred houses a portion of the plant's enriched uranium operation, which was shut down for five days in November because of safety problems. But the explosion was in a different section of the building and no nuclear materials were affected, officials said.

Three workers were hospitalized for burns or smoke inhalation. One man suffered second-degree burns over his face and chest. The others were treated and released.

The workers were removing an old crucible used in casting nuclear weapons parts. The explosion occurred when they were attempting to mop up a sodium hydroxide alloy that had spilled.

The alloy might have reacted with moisture, but the exact cause of the explosion was unclear, said David Page, a spokesman for the Energy Department.

Y-12, created as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II to build the first atomic bomb, today makes warhead components for the MX missile system and is the primary uranium storage site for the nation's nuclear arsenal.

The entire 5,300-employee plant was shuttered in 1994 for safety deficiencies. The Energy Department and managing contractor Lockheed Martin have been slowly restarting the plant, section by section.

(PROFILE (CO:Lockheed Martin Corp; TS:LMT;) ) AP-NY-12-09-99 0625EDT

http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpnt1u.htm

-- mmmm (mmmm@mmmm.com), December 09, 1999.

the government has obviously put a blackout on this story, and the resons why can be counted on a couple of fingers. Doesn't take a genius to figure this one out, and the very act of the coverup is vey revealing.

-- Nikol krushev (doomsday@y2000.com), December 09, 1999.

There was a story on one of those TV-news magazines about a month or so ago about a doctor that has raised the issue of health questions about the Oak Ridge area and because of that has had attempts to discredit him, even to the point of claiming that he was a drug user. The gov't and their agents have done everything they can to ruin this guy. The story said that there is a lot to hide in Oak Ridge. Wish I could remember more of the details. Maybe someone else saw the story.

-- just me (none@nowhere.com), December 09, 1999.

Thursday December 9 12:39 PM ET

Tennessee Weapons Plant Shut After Accident

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (Reuters) - Three workers were being treated at hospitals for burns on Thursday following a chemical accident at a U.S. government nuclear weapons facility, officials said.

No nuclear material was involved in Wednesday's accident and there was no danger to anyone outside the plant, according to Bill Wilburn, spokesman for the Department of Energy facility.

In all seven workers were injured when two chemical compounds accidentally mixed during a cleaning process, he said. All were treated and released except for three who were in stable condition at hospitals in Oak Ridge and Chattanooga, Tenn.

About 50 people normally work in the building where the accident happened, part of a complex where nuclear weapons are manufactured. Wilburn said the building has been closed while investigators tried to determine the accident's cause.

The plant is not part of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory which is located elsewhere in Oak Ridge.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991209/ts/nuclear_accident_1.html

-- mmmm (mmmm@mmmm.com), December 09, 1999.

I don't think there's any cover up (and I'm not a polly!) My news covered the story last night on both the 6 and 11 o'clock news. I think it was NBC out of Philadelphia.

Beans

-- Beans (drpete00@hotmail.com), December 09, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

no nuclear materials were affected

How does this relate to last night's report of "limited exposure" to nuclear materials?

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), December 10, 1999.