Missouri home contaminated by wartime radioactive waste, lawsuit says

Couple warns of continuing danger from second world war-era nuclear weapons program around St Louis, where uranium was processed

A Missouri couple says their home is contaminated with dangerously high levels of radioactive waste left over from the US government's second world war-era atomic weapons program.

In a lawsuit filed in the St Louis County circuit court on Tuesday, Robbin and Mike Dailey of Bridgeton say dust samples collected from their kitchen and basement were found to contain the radioactive element thorium-230 at levels about 200 times higher than normal "background" levels. In a move they hope shines a light on the continuing impact of the country's early nuclear weapons program on their midwestern city, the Daileys named nine companies in their lawsuit that they say are responsible for decades of negligence that led to the contamination of their property.