A group of current and former contractors at the U.S. Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio say a federal lawsuit accusing them of failure to contain radioactive contamination should be dismissed.
Centrus Energy and the other companies say Ursula McGlone and other residents who live within 7 miles of the former gaseous diffusion plant failed to state a claim for relief in the lawsuit filed in May with U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley in the Southern District of Ohio.
The Nov. 5 motion also says the plaintiffs are trying to circumvent the 1957 Price-Anderson Act, which limits the potential liability for a nuclear incident. Such incidents are typically defined as any nuclear-related occurrence that results in injury, illness, or property damage. That is essentially what the plaintiffs are alleging, even as they say Price-Anderson does not apply in this case, the companies argue.
The original complaint asserts the alleged contamination is not covered by the Price-Anderson Act liability insurance system and instead are trying to pursue damages under Ohio common law. Centrus Energy said in a recent financial filing that any liability on its behalf should be indemnified by Price-Anderson.
The case was filed by two Pike County, Ohio, families, one with a child in a middle school that closed May 13 after a university study turned up signs of on-site radiation contamination.
They are the lead plaintiffs in what could become a class-action case to represent people who live within a 7-mile radius of the Portsmouth Site, along with students and faculty members at Zahn’s Corner Middle School since 1993. They seek almost $10 million in monetary damages. The plaintiffs want remediation of Portsmouth-related contamination at their homes, medical monitoring, and a fund for medical bills. It is unclear if this would be in addition to the monetary damages.
Even if the plaintiffs asserted a Price-Anderson claim, it would fail because there is no assertion that any nuclear releases from the Portsmouth Site exceed the radiation dose limits established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the companies argued in their motion.
The motion to dismiss was filed by defendants Centrus, United States Enrichment Corp., Uranium Disposition Services, BWXT Conversion Services, Mid-America Conversion Services, Bechtel Jacobs Co., LATA/Parallax, and Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth.
