The Nation - News from Sept. 10, 1989

Federal inspectors appointed by Energy Secretary James D. Watkins will visit nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee, Texas and Ohio over the next five weeks to check for compliance with environmental and safety rules, Watkins said. The investigations are part of a broader effort by Watkins to identify environmental and safety problems at the 17 major weapons plants owned by the department and to attempt to reassure Congress that known flaws are being corrected. The plants earmarked by Watkins for special investigations are the Pantex weapons assembly plant at Amarillo, Tex.; the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which processes uranium and other nuclear materials, and the Mound plant near Dayton, Ohio, which produces detonators and other components for nuclear weapons.