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Objective: The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) became operational in 1952; it is located in the western part of Kentucky. We conducted a mortality study for adverse health effects that workers may have suffered while working at the plant, including exposures to chemicals. Materials and Methods: We studied a cohort of 6820 workers at the PGDP for the period 1953 to 2003; there were a total of 1672 deaths to cohort members. Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a specific concern for this workforce; exposure to TCE occurred primarily in departments that clean the process equipment. The Life Table Analysis System (LTAS) program developed by NIOSH was used to calculate the standardized mortality ratios for the worker cohort and standardized rate ratio relative to exposure to TCE (the U.S. population is the referent for age-adjustment). LTAS calculated a significantly low overall SMR for these workers of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.72-0.79). A further review of three major cancers of interest to Kentucky produced significantly low SMR for trachea, bronchus, lung cancer (0.75, 95% CI: 0.72-0.79) and high SMR for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (1.49, 95% CI: 1.02-2.10). Results: No significant SMR was observed for leukemia and no significant SRRs were observed for any disease. Both the leukemia and lung cancer results were examined and determined to refect regional mortality patterns. However, the Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma finding suggests a curious amplification when living cases are included with the mortality experience. Conclusions: Further examination is recommended of this recurrent finding from all three U.S. Gaseous Diffusion plants.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2002. / Title from title page screen (viewed Feb. 26, 2003). Thesis advisor: Sherry Cable. Document formatted into pages (x, 99 p. : 1 ill.). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85).

The Jackson Purchase region of western Kentucky consists of Coastal Plain sediments near the northern margin of the Mississippi Embayment. Within this region is the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP), a uranium enrichment facility operated by the US Department of Energy. At PGDP, a Superfund site, soil and groundwater studies have provided subsurface lithologic data from hundreds of monitoring wells and borings. Despite preliminary efforts by various contractors, these data have not been utilized to develop detailed stratigraphic correlations of sedimentary units across the study area. In addition, sedimentary exposures along streams in the vicinity of PGDP have not been systematically described beyond the relatively simple geologic quadrangle maps published by the US Geological Survey in 196667. This study integrates lithologic logs, other previous site-investigation data, and outcrop mapping to provide a compilation of near-surface lithologic and stratigraphic data for the PGDP area. A database of borehole data compiled during this study has been provided to PGDP for future research and archival. Developments in understanding near-surface geology include the adoption of nomenclature used by the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), which separates the Continental Deposits into two distinct units, the Mounds Gravel and Metropolis Formation, based on their unique depositional histories. Additionally, faulting presented on the preliminary Joppa (IL) 7.5-minute quadrangle map, but not mapped on the Joppa (KY) 7.5-minute quadrangle map, appears to have impacted deposition of post-Eocene sediments at the site. These faults are co-linear to zones of irregularity noted in the Cretaceous McNairy Formation structure elevation map created during this study, thick zones of the Mounds Gravel noted in an isopach map from this study, and contaminant plume maps created previously by contractors.