Accord on Uranium Plant Cleanup May Be Near, Energy Dept. Says

The Energy Department said Monday it may reach agreement by the end of the week on a consent decree to clean up a federally owned uranium enrichment plant in Ohio.

Ohio Gov. Richard F. Celeste and state Atty. Gen. Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. announced last month that an agreement had been reached on a $50-million plan to clean up the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant near Piketon, in southern Ohio. At the time, they said it was significant because the federal agency would be bound by state law and regulation.

Studying Plan

However, Energy Department spokesman Douglas G. Elmets said Monday night that the federal agency still was reviewing the plan and considering whether court supervision of a cleanup was the best way to go.

A senior department official, who asked that he not be identified by name, said that the Energy Department “may have a decision by the end of the week on a consent decree” that would involve court supervision of a cleanup.

The Piketon plant processes uranium for fuel for commercial nuclear power reactors. It generates such toxic wastes as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, solvents and metals, as well as radioactive materials.

When the agreement was announced Nov. 22, Celeste said he hoped it would serve as a model for other tough cleanup cases, such as the government-owned Fernald plant near Cincinnati. Environmental officials say that plant has dumped radioactive waste improperly, possibly contaminating ground water, since it began processing uranium for nuclear weapons in 1951.

The Piketon plan calls for the Energy Department to be subject to orders issued by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which would supervise the cleanup of about 6 million pounds of waste. Last month, officials said the agreement still needed to be incorporated into a federal court consent decree.