Two former nuclear fuel plants in Armstrong County created innovation and controversy. The Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) was established in late 1956 in Apollo, Pennsylvania, with a second site in nearby Parks Township. NUMEC developed the first nuclear-powered heart pacemaker and created nuclear products including highly classified nuclear fuels for the U.S. Navy to power submarines and other craft. The company became famous for allegations of providing Israel with illegal shipments of nuclear bomb materials, which were never proven nor brought to court. However NUMEC’s successors were taken to court for allegedly contaminating the surrounding communities with radioactive emissions from the plants. The companies denied the allegations but settled several hundred individual cases for more than $80 million. All that remains is a nuclear waste dump known as the Shallow Land Disposal Area, which is currently slated for cleanup by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Here is a sampling of stories on NUMEC, its successors, and plant sites in Apollo and Parks Township:

“Many details of NUMEC’s Israel dealings still shrouded in secrecy”

Zalman Shapiro, the late renowned nuclear scientist who founded the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. in Apollo, waited almost 50 years to reveal his involvement in the Six Day War. Read more in the Tribune-Review, June 4, 2017.

“Trib report on secret nuclear batteries spurs reporting in Israel”

Media outlets in Israel have been reacting to aTribune-Review story that a Pittsburgh scientist, Zalman Shapiro, provided nuclear batteries for listening devices used by Israel in the Six Day War 50 years ago. Read more in the Tribune-Review, June 8, 2017.

“Feds say budget changes proposed by Trump won’t affect Parks Twp. waste dump cleanup”

A proposed change in the 2020 federal budget that would transfer management of a nuclear waste dump cleanup from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Department of Energy isn’t expected to have any effect on the Parks Township project. Read more in the Tribune-Review, March 15, 2019.

“Volunteer activists credited with getting $60M for former nuclear workers”

The volunteer efforts of a Hyde Park environmental activist and a retired Washington Township engineer helped about 300 former nuclear workers in the region collect $60 million from the federal government for cancers likely caused by their jobs. Read more in the Tribune-Review, Aug. 9, 2018.

“Ex-NUMEC worker’s body exhumed after 40 years”

More than 40 years after she was laid to rest, the body of Pauline Sulava was exhumed Friday morning at St. Catherine Cemetery in order to determine whether radiation exposure led to her untimely death. Read more, the Valley News Dispatch, July 12, 2008.

“U.S. Supreme Court ends lawsuit against Apollo nuclear fuels plant operators”

More than two decades of legal wrangling over whether a former Apollo nuclear fuels plant caused cancers in Armstrong County has been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Read more in the Tribune-Review, Feb. 27, 2018.

MARY ANN THOMAS   | Friday, March 15, 2019 1:28 p.m.