In August of 1999, a plant in Paducah, Kentucky was discovered to have many workers exposed to plutonium and other harmful radioactive materials. The plant was the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant which is owned by the Department of Energy within the U.S. Government. Around 1800 workers labored to produce material for bombs from uranium dust. The radioactive material to cause the exposure to the workers also spilled into nearby ditches and eventually was carried into wildlife areas and private water wells. In 2000, tests showed that plutonium levels were above 20 times the maximally accepted limit. Since 1988, groundwater cleanups have been underway when the serious levels of pollution in wells were discovered. The major problem discovered was that the Federal Government withheld information about the levels of radioactive material being exposed; this was due to the idea of the health threat being too small. Workers feel even though their health appeared not to be at risk, not disclosing the levels of pollution and failing to monitor problems is not acceptable.
The Clinton administration announced in 1999 it would spend millions of dollars to compensate workers harmed by exposures. With this plan, workers could receive a lump sum of $100,000 or other packages. In conclusion, the Department of Energy decided that it would allot $21.8 million in environmental cleanup for the region.
Ethical Issues
Many ethical issues arise from this case. Such issues to be considered deal with obligations of the Department of Energy to give out information and should therefore be responsible for the health damages involved. Another ethical issue deals with involvement of managem ...