Energy secretary delays Ohio visit to former uranium plant

PIKETON, Ohio (AP) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has postponed his visit to the southern Ohio home of a former Cold War-era uranium plant.

Perry was slated Monday to visit the cleanup site of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon. In a statement, he said he had to be at a Cabinet meeting Monday in Washington but hoped to reschedule the visit.

Ohio’s U.S. senators, Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown, have urged Perry to get a firsthand look at the cleanup work and its role in the region’s economy.

Commissioners from four southern Ohio counties wrote to Perry asking for continued funding for the cleanup, which produces some of the best-paid jobs in an area with high unemployment. However, Piketon’s mayor expressed concerns about a possible onsite waste disposal facility.