A middle school in Pike County, Ohio, will be closed for the rest of the year after enriched uranium was detected inside the school.
Zahns Corner Middle School was closing until further notice. An air monitor next to the school also detected Neptunium 237, a radioactive isotope and known carcinogen.
The Department of Energy had been continuing cleanup work on the 3,000-acre Gaseous Diffusion Plant campus that closed in 2001. They have also considered making the area a nuclear disposal site, something the Pike County Health Department has warned against since the discovery of the uranium.
“Until the contamination is understood, and the potential impacts to health and environment, stop what you are doing and let’s figure it out and then get a plan going forward,” Pike County Health Commissioner Matt Brewster said.