WASHINGTON - After 17 years, James Stone has perhaps a few more months to wait before he learns whether he will collect up to $1 million for exposing fraud by a government contractor at a now-closed nuclear weapons plant.

A court ordered Rockwell International, now part of aerospace giant Boeing Co., to pay the government nearly $4.2 million for fraud connected with environmental cleanup at the Rocky Flats plant northwest of Denver. Stone, a former employee at the facility, could be entitled to as much as one-quarter of the payment under the federal False Claims Act.

The 81-year-old retired engineer filed his whistle-blower lawsuit in 1989, the year Rocky Flats shut its operations after nearly 40 years of production. He has survived legal challenges by Rockwell to dismiss the claim or deprive him of his share. The government joined the suit as Stone’s partner 10 years ago.

The Supreme Court now has the case. The ruling could affect an anticipated crush of fraud suits if the high court makes it harder for whistle-blowers to share in the proceeds.

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