A couple of Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites could experience the total or near-total eclipse of the sun this coming Monday, April 8.
Paducah, Ky., home to DOE’s Paducah Site, is the only weapons complex cleanup site in the “totality” path, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Buffalo, N.Y., which is 35 miles north of the West Valley Demonstration Project cleanup site, is also expected to experience the total eclipse.
According to NASA, the partial eclipse should start around Paducah at 12:42 p.m. Central Time Monday and the total eclipse, which will only last a couple of minutes, will occur at 2 p.m. The partial eclipse in Paducah will end by 3:18 p.m. The community is eagerly anticipating the eclipse, the Paducah Sun reported Tuesday.
While not quite as well-located as Buffalo, the eclipse should be visible at West Valley, a DOE project spokesperson said by email Monday.
“We have sent a message to employees regarding safety and the solar eclipse to ensure our workers take the appropriate precautions,” the West Valley site spokesperson said. “To eliminate distractions and ensure safety, a brief pause in deconstruction activities of the Main Plant Process Building may be taken.”
The Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati “is close but just outside of the zone” for the solar eclipse, a DOE Office of Environmental Management spokesperson said.
