(encore episode)

Patty Ameno 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 Navys nuclear submarines, leaving behind a legacy of uranium and plutonium waste that impacted the health of everyone in the area ” including Patty.

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. Patty Ameno passed away on Friday, May 10, 2024. She was 72 years old. 

Photo of Patty Ameno used with permission from Libbe HaLevy of Nuclear Hotseat (with permission of Patty Ameno)