Fernald, Ohio

The Fernald Feed Materials Production Center (commonly referred to simply as Fernald or later NLO) is a Superfund site located within Crosby Township in Hamilton County, Ohio, as well as Ross Township in Butler County, Ohio. It was a uranium processing facility located near the rural town of New Baltimore, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Cincinnati, which fabricated uranium fuel cores for the U.S. nuclear weapons production complex from 1951 to 1989. During that time, the plant produced 170,000 metric tons uranium (MTU) of metal products and 35,000 MTU of intermediate compounds, such as uranium trioxide and uranium tetrafluoride.

Fernald came under criticism in 1984 when it was learned that the plant was releasing millions of pounds of uranium dust into the atmosphere, causing major radioactive contamination of the surrounding areas. That same year, a 39-year-old pipe fitter, David "Dave" Bocks disappeared on shift and was reported missing. His remains were later discovered inside a uranium processing furnace located in Plant 6; a sudden 28-degree drop in furnace temperature (which was kept at a constant 1300 degrees F) had been recorded at 5:15 AM during the night of Bocks' disappearance. The investigations found insufficient evidence that foul play was involved, however some, including Bocks' family, believed that he was murdered by one or more coworkers who suspected him of being a whistleblower in the 1984 nuclear emissions scandal.

In 1948 the Atomic Energy Commission, predecessor to the U.S. Department of Energy, established "a large scale integrated facility for the production of fabricated uranium fuel cores by chemical and metallurgical techniques." The plant was known as the Feed Materials Production Center since the uranium fuel cores it produced were the 'feed' for the AEC's plutonium production reactors.

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