School closed 'til Sept. after radioactive material found
It's not clear how long the school will be closed.
Officials in Pike County, Ohio have shuttered Zahn's Corner Middle School for the remainder of the academic year after detecting uranium and neptunium on school grounds.
Both substances are radioactive, and prolonged exposure can cause cancer.
They are believed to have come from a nearby industrial plant. While the site hasn't been operational since 2001, it is in the middle of an environmental clean-up that's being supervised by Ohio's Department of Energy.
About 320 students have been affected by the closure, which may stretch into the following school year.
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The Department of Energy told WLWT it will commission an independent third-party to "perform ... additional analysis of the air and ground readings to properly assess the situation," adding it is “confident that those findings will allay any cause for further concern.”
School board president Brandon Wooldridge told CNN he is working on a contingency plan, which may include purchasing an additional property so students can continue their studies in another building.
