English 101 7504
October 18, 2014
The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
If you were to ask the citizens of the Paducah area how they felt about the closing of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant you would get very different responses. Everyone would have their own opinion as to why it was a good thing, or a bad thing, or why they should've never closed it, or why they should have a long time ago. Some people would argue that the plant brought many high paying jobs to the area and brought the area money. Some would argue that the plant was very bad for the people and the local area due to the contamination it caused. The plant left its lasting effect on the area and the people there. Most of these lasting effects were negative. The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant caused lasting health side effects on workers and the local population, it brought contamination to the local area, and it caused long term illnesses among a number of the workers.
The first of these negative effects that the plant caused were the lasting health side effects that it left on the people. In Kristen Iversen's book (Iversen) Full Body Burden she talks about the health side effects the nuclear plant in her town caused the children in the area. In the book she talks about the symptoms such as; fever, exhaustion, and swollen lymph nodes. Iversen says these are symptoms that no one can really diagnose, they deal with them on a daily basis. Being exposed to the nuclear plant and the radiation the plant put out caused the local children in the book to be in constant pain of some sort and have these symptoms.
The second negative effect that the plant had on...