TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Federal and state officials are awaiting the release of a report examining the favorable assessment made earlier this year about the safety of a new biosecurity lab planned for northeast Kansas.

The report from the National Research Council is due for release Friday.

It's a congressionally mandated follow-up to a favorable assessment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in March. The agency suggested then that there would be minimal risk of an accidental release of a dangerous animal disease from the lab.

The department plans to build the $1.14 billion National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kan., near Kansas State University. It would replace an aging lab on Plum Island, N.Y. and research contagious pathogens that could threaten the nation's food supply.