PLUTONIUM LEAK

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32221, 13 February 1970, Page 13

PLUTONIUM LEAK

j Atom Bomb Plant I (N.Z. P.A.-Reuter— Copyright) ! WASHINGTON, Feb. 12. I Officials of the United [States Atomic Energy Com- [ mission acknowledged yesterjday that tiny quantities of

[radioactive plutonium, a highly toxic material, have leaked from an atom bomb plant near [Denver, Colorado. i But they said that the leakage was well within safety [ limits and posed no health [threat to the more than one million people living in and around Denver. I An independent group of Colorado scientists, however, claimed in a report made public that enough plutonium had escaped over the years to pose a potential threat to the health and safety of Den[ver citizens. The group, calling itself the [Colorado Committee for EnIvironmental Information, reported finding plutonium deposits up to 300 times greater than they would expect in

[the soil near the Rocky Flats nuclear plant, 15 miles out[side Denver. Plutonium is one of the [most toxic materials known [to man, but' to be lethal it [must be swallowed or inhaled.