A federal agency has taken the first step toward possibly fast-tracking compensation for sick workers at a defunct Jefferson County nuclear fuel rod plant.
Former workers at United Nuclear Corp.'s plant in Hematite recently were notified that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has certified a petition they filed this summer.
The federal agency now will begin evaluating the petition seeking a special designation that, if granted, would allow compensation claims to be approved without forcing Hematite workers to prove how they were exposed to radiation.