NH #674: The Passing of an Anti-Nuclear Activist Hero: Patti Ameno

The late, Great, Patti Ameno

Patti Ameno (also Patty, Patricia) grew up in Apollo, Pennsylvania, 35 miles NE of Pittsburgh, not realizing that her childhood home was directly across the street from the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation.  NUMEC manufactured fuel for commercial nuclear power plants and the Navy’s nuclear submarines, leaving behind a legacy of uranium and plutonium waste that impacted the health of everyone in the area — including Patti. 

A trained investigator with Naval Investigative Service (NIS) and former U.S. Federal Criminal Investigator, Patty took on NUMEC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Babcock & Wilcox and Atlantic Richfield… and won.  But the battle she was ultimately unable to win was her fight against illnesses and cancers that wracked her body as a result of that early exposure to radioactive materials. Patti Ameno passed away on Friday, May 10, 2024. She was 72 years old.

This interview was recorded for Nuclear Hotseat #239 for January 20, 2016.

Patti Ameno Obituary

Nuclear Hotseat Hot Story with Linda Pentz Gunter:

Instead of getting us off nuclear power dependence, a new Russian uranium import ban will further condemn Native American communities to new uranium mines. Here’s Linda Pentz Gunter, back from her sabbatical, with this week’s Nuclear Hotseat Hot Story.

Links:

Enviro Close-Up with Karl Grossman – The New Nuclear Push featuring Kevin Kamps