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Article: Uranium mining to begin at K-25.
- Article from:
- The Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, TN)
- Article date:
- April 19, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 The Knoxville News-Sentinel. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Frank Munger
Apr. 19--OAK RIDGE -- Oak Ridge workers will begin mining for uranium later this year, extracting old deposits from the miles of process equipment inside the World War II-era K-25 plant.
It is, by far, the riskiest part of a four-year cleanup project. The fissile material, if improperly handled, could trigger an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction. It also requires an increased level of security because the uranium is highly enriched and, if diverted, could be used in nuclear weapons.
Bechtel Jacobs Co., the U.S. Department of Energy's environmental manager, is supposed to dismantle K-25 by the end of 2008. The mile-long, ...