Tests Find No Unusual Radioactive Material At Closed School Near Former Uranium Plant

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PIKETON, Ohio (AP) - State health officials and the U.S. Department of Energy say dust samples taken in late May from a southern Ohio school near a former uranium enrichment plant showed no radioactivity beyond naturally occurring levels.

Scioto Valley Local School District had closed the Zahn's Corner Middle School in Piketon in mid-May after traces of radioactive material were discovered.

But the Department of Energy tells The Columbus Dispatch there is no public health risk from radioactive material at the school.

A university scientist who found some of the earlier traces questioned the department's testing methodology, which the DOE defends.

More tests are planned. The department and local health officials already had agreed to have independent, third-party testing at the school, which sits several miles from the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com