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Reporting from Fernald Preserve, Ohio - Amid the family farms and rolling terrain of southern Ohio, one hill stands out for its precise geometry. The 65-foot-high mound stretching more than half a mile dominates a tract of northern hardwoods, prairie grasses and swampy ponds, known as the Fernald Preserve. Contrary to appearances, there is nothing natural here. The high ground is filled with radioactive debris, scooped from the soil around a former uranium foundry that produced crucial parts for the nation's nuclear weapons program. A $4.4-billion cleanup transformed Fernald from a dangerously contaminated factory complex into an environmental showcase. But it is "clean" only by the terms of a legal agreement. Its soils contain many times the natural amounts of radioactivity, and a plume of tainted water extends underground about a mile. Nobody can ever safely live here, federal scientists say, and the site will have to be closely monitored essentially forever.

Reporting from Fernald Preserve, Ohio - Amid the family farms and rolling terrain of southern Ohio, one hill stands out for its precise geometry. The 65-foot-high mound stretching more than half a mile dominates a tract of northern hardwoods, prairie grasses and swampy ponds, known as the Fernald Preserve. Contrary to appearances, there is nothing natural here. The high ground is filled with radioactive debris, scooped from the soil around a former uranium foundry that produced crucial parts for the nation's nuclear weapons program. A $4.4-billion cleanup transformed Fernald from a dangerously contaminated factory complex into an environmental showcase. But it is "clean" only by the terms of a legal agreement. Its soils contain many times the natural amounts of radioactivity, and a plume of tainted water extends underground about a mile. Nobody can ever safely live here, federal scientists say, and the site will have to be closely monitored essentially forever.

"At first, the Fernald Preserve inspires jokes. "Let's come back and go hiking -- in 500 years," I say, checking out trails marked with radiation monitors. My mom and stepdad make cracks about fish with three eyes and birds with six wings, ha ha. Still, we're a little nervous. Fernald Preserve used to be the site of the factory where uranium was processed for nuclear bombs. From 1951 to 1989, it was known as the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center, a secretive facility in the middle of farm country in southwest Ohio. It produced nearly 70% of all uranium used in America's nuclear weapons"

In the dark past of the Fernald School for the disabled, the nation's oldest publicly funded facility for those with developmental disabilities, some children were subject to Cold War experiments including being fed radioactive cereal while other patients allegedly were tagged as "morons" even as tests showed them to be normal. Now two Massachusetts lawmakers want the state to do right by the former residents of the controversial Fernald School, which opened in 1848 and is slated to closed next year. State Rep. Thomas Sannicandro, D-Ashland, has filed a bill that would require the state to apologize for alleged civil rights violations among patients at the Waltham facility. And state Rep. Thomas Stanley, D-Waltham, has filed a bill calling for a formal investigation of the misclassification of patients there. Both bills will be heard during a hearing Tuesday before the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.

In the dark past of the Fernald School for the disabled, the nation's oldest publicly funded facility for those with developmental disabilities, some children were subject to Cold War experiments including being fed radioactive cereal while other patients allegedly were tagged as "morons" even as tests showed them to be normal. Now two Massachusetts lawmakers want the state to do right by the former residents of the controversial Fernald School, which opened in 1848 and is slated to closed next year. State Rep. Thomas Sannicandro, D-Ashland, has filed a bill that would require the state to apologize for alleged civil rights violations among patients at the Waltham facility. And state Rep. Thomas Stanley, D-Waltham, has filed a bill calling for a formal investigation of the misclassification of patients there. Both bills will be heard during a hearing Tuesday before the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.

Former workers may be at increased risk for cancer, study says Researchers have found a new, potentially more dangerous source of radon exposure for workers at the now-demolished Fernald uranium foundry. Advertisement The findings have many ramifications for former Fernald workers and their families, said Susan Pinney, an environmental health researcher at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of the study. "Now we know workers in the plant's production area prior to 1959 may be at increased risk for developing lung cancer and other exposure-related health problems," Pinney said.

Assessments of the harm done by nuclear weapons plants to both workers and neighbors have generally relied on the radiation data provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors. Detailed studies of the DOE's uranium processing plant near Fernald, Ohio, (commonly called the Fernald plant), show that DOE and contractor assessments are fundamentally flawed in numerous ways and that harm to both neighbors and workers was far greater than the DOE acknowledged. Further, preliminary indications are that the conditions that gave rise to the DOE's false reassurances of safety and environmental compliance are also likely to be present at a number of other nuclear weapons plants.

Members of a committee helping to oversee cleanup of nuclear waste at the site of the now-closed Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant here met with their counterparts who worked with the cleanup of the former Feed Material Production Center in Fernald, near Cincinnati. The Fernald plant, built by the Atomic Energy Commission, produced more than 500 million pounds of uranium metal from 1952 to 1989, said Johnny Reising, site director for the Fernald closing project for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Cleanup of the radioactive waste byproducts, stored in metal cylinders above ground, began in the 1980s and, after nearly 25 years, is now completed. The cost was nearly $4.5 billion.

Researchers have found a new, potentially more dangerous source of radon exposure for workers at the now-demolished Fernald uranium foundry. The findings have many ramifications for former Fernald workers and their families, said Susan Pinney, an environmental health researcher at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of the study. "Now we know workers in the plant's production area prior to 1959 may be at increased risk for developing lung cancer and other exposure-related health problems," Pinney said.

Radioactive waste left in the groundwater at the former Fernald uranium-processing plant in southwestern Ohio could linger for a century, state officials estimate. That's why the U.S. Department of Energy agreed yesterday to pay a record $13.75 million to settle a lawsuit that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency filed in 1986.

Radioactive waste left in the groundwater at the former Fernald uranium-processing plant in southwestern Ohio could linger for a century, state officials estimate. That's why the U.S. Department of Energy agreed today to pay a record $13.75 million to settle a lawsuit that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency filed in 1986. The payment, the largest of its kind in state history, is considered one of the final acts of a years-long $4.4 billion cleanup at the plant, which refined raw uranium for nuclear weapons from 1951 to 1989.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown unveiled legislation Tuesday that would extend occupational illness-related compensation and health benefits to hundreds of former employees at two Cold War-era nuclear facilities in Ohio. The Ohio Democrat's proposal would extend a special designation to the Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald and the Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor in Piqua so that former workers suffering from certain forms of cancer would automatically qualify for compensation. Under current law, compensation is paid only if there is evidence the cancer was likely caused by radiation exposure. "Former energy workers battling cancer should not have to struggle to receive the benefits to which they are entitled," Brown said.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown unveiled legislation Tuesday that would extend occupational illness-related compensation and health benefits to hundreds of former employees at two Cold War-era nuclear facilities in Ohio. The Ohio Democrat's proposal would extend a special designation to the Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald and the Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor in Piqua so that former workers suffering from certain forms of cancer would automatically qualify for compensation. Under current law, compensation is paid only if there is evidence the cancer was likely caused by radiation exposure. "Former energy workers battling cancer should not have to struggle to receive the benefits to which they are entitled," Brown said.

The Committee's recommendation for Defense Environmental Cleanup totals $5,425,202,000, an increase of $127,946,000 over the budget request of $5,297,256,000. Within the amounts provided, the Department is directed to fund hazardous waste worker training at $10,000,000. Closure Sites.--The Committee recommendation provides $45,883,000, the same as the budget request. The recommendation provides $13,209,000 for Closure Sites Administration, $30,574,000 for Miamisburg, Ohio, and $2,100,000 for Fernald, Ohio.