Ohio Middle School Closes After Uranium ‘Neptunium 237’ Detected Inside Piketon Building

PIKETON, OH. (THECOUNT) — Pike County, Ohio, Zahn’s Corner Middle School has been closed after enriched uranium was detected inside the building.

A US Department of Energy air monitor adjacent to the middle school also detected Neptunium 237.

According to a letter from the district, the enriched uranium was detected inside the school.

The school district has closed the school until the source, extent and level of contamination can be determined.

“It is the position of the Board that any level of contamination on or near our school is unacceptable,” the district said.

The school district says the Department of Energy must take appropriate action to ensure radiological contaminants are not being released from the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant property, reports NBC4i.

The plant produced enriched uranium from 1954 until 2001. The Department of Energy is currently conducting an environmental cleanup of the site.

Geo quick facts: Piketon is a village in Pike County, Ohio, United States, along the Scioto River. The village is best known for the uranium enrichment plant located there. The population was 2,181 at the 2010 census – Wikipedia.