An Ohio middle school will shut down indefinitely after authorities discovered it was potentially contaminated with cancer-causing radioactive materials, officials said.<\/p>\n
Scioto Valley Local District officials announced<\/a> Monday that Zahn\u2019s Corner Middle School in Piketon would be shuttered at least for the remainder of the school year.<\/p>\n The public school, which enrolls about 350 students, will be shut until \u201cthe source, extent, level of contamination and potential impacts to public health and the environment can be determined,\u201d according to the district.<\/p>\n In a letter to parents, the school board said for enriched uranium was detected inside the building while neptunium-237 was outside. Both are highly carcinogenic radioactive chemicals, which authorities believe stemmed from the activity at the nearby Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.<\/p>\n The plant made nuclear materials for the US Department of Energy until operations ceased in 2001, the agency said<\/a>.<\/p>\n As news emerged of the possible contamination, concerned parents demanded the Department of Energy take action to prevent the spread of radioactive chemicals from the site.<\/p>\n Katie Whiting, who has a fourth-grader at the school, said the agency is \u201cnot taking this seriously\u201d and she\u2019s \u201cterrified\u201d her child will get sick.<\/p>\n \u201cThis could have long-term effects that we may never know of,\u201d Whiting told NBC News.<\/a><\/p>\n School officials said they\u2019re also putting pressure on the Department of Energy and the site to contain the harmful materials.<\/p>\n \u201cWe agree with the Pike County Health Department that the US Department of Energy must take appropriate actions to ensure radiological contaminants are not being released from the site,\u201d the district said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Portsmouth](\"https:\/\/thenypost.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/05\/piketon-897.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=300)
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