He was a miner in Perry county and after the mines mostly closed around 1950 he went to work for B & T Metals in Columbus, Ohio returning home to Shawnee on the weekends.
In February 1943, DuPont, acting as an agent for the Manhattan Engineer District (AKA the Manhattan Project), contracted B&T Metals to extrude rods of uranium metal pellets for the reactor in Hanford, Washington. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret project that took place from 1942 to 1946 to develop the first atomic bomb. Since the Manhattan Project was so secret, B&T workers and officials weren't told anything about the uranium. They did not discover their link to the Manhattan Project until after World War II.
Unfortunately, many workers were exposed to the radiation dust which had accumulated. In 1988 and 1989, a good 15 years after his death, radiological assessment identified higher than normal concentrations of uranium in dust on the building support beams, in several floors, sump and drain locations inside the main office building, and in several outdoor locations where uranium shavings were reportedly dumped. Some of the contamination levels were about 600 picocuries of radiation per gram. The U.S. Department of Energy requires cleanup to 35 picocuries per gram. As a comparison, Ohio's soil typically has a natural radiation of only 5 to 10 picocuries.
In October 1992, B&T Metals was designated for remedial action. A government contractor was hired and decontaminated the property. In the spring of 1996, a post remedial action survey was completed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the site was released for use without radiological restrictions. The notice was published in June 2001, officially confirming the facility no longer served as a potential radiological health or safety concern. But for my dad and many others this was too late. He died of metatastic lung cancer.
-- F Raymond Miller
Military Information: PVT, US ARMY
In February 1943, DuPont, acting as an agent for the Manhattan Engineer District (AKA the Manhattan Project), contracted B&T Metals to extrude rods of uranium metal pellets for the reactor in Hanford, Washington. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret project that took place from 1942 to 1946 to develop the first atomic bomb. Since the Manhattan Project was so secret, B&T workers and officials weren't told anything about the uranium. They did not discover their link to the Manhattan Project until after World War II.
Unfortunately, many workers were exposed to the radiation dust which had accumulated. In 1988 and 1989, a good 15 years after his death, radiological assessment identified higher than normal concentrations of uranium in dust on the building support beams, in several floors, sump and drain locations inside the main office building, and in several outdoor locations where uranium shavings were reportedly dumped. Some of the contamination levels were about 600 picocuries of radiation per gram. The U.S. Department of Energy requires cleanup to 35 picocuries per gram. As a comparison, Ohio's soil typically has a natural radiation of only 5 to 10 picocuries.
In October 1992, B&T Metals was designated for remedial action. A government contractor was hired and decontaminated the property. In the spring of 1996, a post remedial action survey was completed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the site was released for use without radiological restrictions. The notice was published in June 2001, officially confirming the facility no longer served as a potential radiological health or safety concern. But for my dad and many others this was too late. He died of metatastic lung cancer.
-- F Raymond Miller
Military Information: PVT, US ARMY
He was a miner in Perry county and after the mines mostly closed around 1950 he went to work for B & T Metals in Columbus, Ohio returning home to Shawnee on the weekends.
In February 1943, DuPont, acting as an agent for the Manhattan Engineer District (AKA the Manhattan Project), contracted B&T Metals to extrude rods of uranium metal pellets for the reactor in Hanford, Washington. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret project that took place from 1942 to 1946 to develop the first atomic bomb. Since the Manhattan Project was so secret, B&T workers and officials weren't told anything about the uranium. They did not discover their link to the Manhattan Project until after World War II.
Unfortunately, many workers were exposed to the radiation dust which had accumulated. In 1988 and 1989, a good 15 years after his death, radiological assessment identified higher than normal concentrations of uranium in dust on the building support beams, in several floors, sump and drain locations inside the main office building, and in several outdoor locations where uranium shavings were reportedly dumped. Some of the contamination levels were about 600 picocuries of radiation per gram. The U.S. Department of Energy requires cleanup to 35 picocuries per gram. As a comparison, Ohio's soil typically has a natural radiation of only 5 to 10 picocuries.
In October 1992, B&T Metals was designated for remedial action. A government contractor was hired and decontaminated the property. In the spring of 1996, a post remedial action survey was completed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the site was released for use without radiological restrictions. The notice was published in June 2001, officially confirming the facility no longer served as a potential radiological health or safety concern. But for my dad and many others this was too late. He died of metatastic lung cancer.
-- F Raymond Miller
Military Information: PVT, US ARMY
In February 1943, DuPont, acting as an agent for the Manhattan Engineer District (AKA the Manhattan Project), contracted B&T Metals to extrude rods of uranium metal pellets for the reactor in Hanford, Washington. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret project that took place from 1942 to 1946 to develop the first atomic bomb. Since the Manhattan Project was so secret, B&T workers and officials weren't told anything about the uranium. They did not discover their link to the Manhattan Project until after World War II.
Unfortunately, many workers were exposed to the radiation dust which had accumulated. In 1988 and 1989, a good 15 years after his death, radiological assessment identified higher than normal concentrations of uranium in dust on the building support beams, in several floors, sump and drain locations inside the main office building, and in several outdoor locations where uranium shavings were reportedly dumped. Some of the contamination levels were about 600 picocuries of radiation per gram. The U.S. Department of Energy requires cleanup to 35 picocuries per gram. As a comparison, Ohio's soil typically has a natural radiation of only 5 to 10 picocuries.
In October 1992, B&T Metals was designated for remedial action. A government contractor was hired and decontaminated the property. In the spring of 1996, a post remedial action survey was completed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the site was released for use without radiological restrictions. The notice was published in June 2001, officially confirming the facility no longer served as a potential radiological health or safety concern. But for my dad and many others this was too late. He died of metatastic lung cancer.
-- F Raymond Miller
Military Information: PVT, US ARMY
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