Huffington Post: Explosion Rocks Honeywell Uranium Facility Run by Scab Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-elk/explosion-rocks-honeywell_b_707893.html

Mike Elk

Labor Journalist
Posted: September 7, 2010 03:56 PM

Union workers have been locked out at the uranium enrichment facility in Metropolis, Illinois for two months now after contract negotiations broke down over Honeywell's demand that workers give up their retiree health care coverage and pension plans. The Metropolis uranium facility is the only one in the United States that can convert U308 into the extremely deadly UF6.

Because the plant is the only conversion facility of its kind in the United States, familiarity with the Metropolis plant, and not just generic experience in the field, is essential to ensuring the plant's safety. Concerns have been raised by local community members and union officials that replacement workers at the Honeywell facility cannot safely operate the plant since they have no site-specific experience in this type of conversion facility.

Workers claim that Cote is far more interested in keeping his record profits high than actually protecting workers and the surrounding community. They believe that Honeywell CEO David Cote is willing to risk nuclear fallout in order to demand that uranium workers cut their retiree health care and pension plans.

On Saturday, nuclear regulators allowed Honeywell to start up core production at the facility, where core production had been shut down for over two months due to concerns about the training of replacement workers. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission delayed reopening the plant for several days after questions were raised about the unusually high levels of uranium that were appearing in the urine tests of several nuclear workers.

The following day, a hydrogen explosion rocked the plant. The blast shook the ground in front of the plant and could be heard a mile away, according to local reports. State Trooper Bridget Rice said that police were called to investigate to the scene of the explosion after receiving several phone calls reporting an explosion at the plant. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Roger Hannah also confirmed that there was indeed "a small hydrogen explosion that was very loud" at the Metropolis facility.

The plant splits hydrofluoric acid into hydrogen and fluoride. The hydrogen then gets scrubbed and released into the atmosphere and fluorine goes into the process. If the hydrogen and fluorine recombine, it can be very reactive and cause a non-radioactive hydrogen explosion. On Saturday, hydrogen was accidentally recombined with fluorine causing a massive explosion that could be heard a mile away and leading to the plant being temporarily shut down.

FULL story at link.

[The_Commonist]

1. Didn't we see something about this here last week?

And weren't people concerned that something like this might happen?

I don't have a problem with "scabs" as human beings trying to feed their families, but wasn't this just so predictable?

Sheesh!

[Hannah Bell]

6. yes.

[izquierdista]

2. Their safety plan will cover it

"This is Metropolis, Superman will save us if anything goes wrong."

[Canuckistanian]

3. "Honeywell Uranium Facility" gives me the creeps

I have ZERO confidence in a giant corporation running a fucking Uranium operation.

There WILL be deaths.

[Omaha Steve]

4. Kick

[Radical Activist]

5. This is in a dirt poor part of the country.

They need every last job and retirement check they can get.