Y-12 Blog
It isn’t often a coworker will have extra pairs of socks on hand at work. Having socks may sound weird, but if you walk from a Y‑12 east‑end parking lot to the west end of the plant during a downpour, having extra socks when you (or a peer) start the day comes in handy. “No one likes to walk around in wet socks and shoes,” Michael M., owner of the extra socks, said. “When I was production, I had extra socks to offer my team if they had trudged in through a heavy rain. Now I feel like I’m cheating when I can park outside my building and get to my office without the long walk and my socks staying dry.”
While he is in a different job now, that compassion for his team is something that remains as he leads the Y‑12 workstream for Site Separation Management. “I’m here to prevent distractions to all Y‑12ers in terms of site separation,” he said. “I’m sensitive to what employees are feeling. The main goal is our employees continue to be successful in their role whether they are at Pantex or Y‑12.”
Why are you mission success?
I am a part of mission success because site separation is crucially important to our customers and the government at large. It took many years for Pantex and Y‑12 to become one entity, and to separate the sites back out into two stand-alone sites is cumbersome. Completing site separation the right way is important and will emphasize how strong the mission of each site is.
As an employee, what do you want to be remembered for?
I want to be remembered as an employee who cares about the Y‑12 mission and the people who execute it. I’ve had the privilege of managing more than 200 people during my years at Y‑12. The least I can do for those who make sacrifices to meet the mission is to fight for their advancement and help them be a success day‑to‑day.
Take 5 minutes to learn about Emmett Wade, fabrication and production support manager at Y‑12. All views and opinions are the employee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of CNS.
When Emmett Wade received a layoff notice in 1982, the then‑Y‑12 machinist kept the faith.
“There were approximately 1,300 machinists working three shifts,” he recalled. “The work slacked up, and I got a pink slip. Management was trying to place everyone they could. I was offered janitor and guard jobs, but I held fast. I prayed about it and prayed about it. I kept thinking God has something else for me.”
Wade was soon offered a machine technician position in Assembly at Y‑12, which came with a one‑cent raise. Several positions at the site followed over four decades, including his current role of fabrication and production support manager.
“People don’t realize what it takes to get a part moved from building A to building B,” Wade explained. “You have to take in account all of the ES&H [Environment, Safety, and Health] concerns with the material and the security concerns, including classification.”
In addition to the complexity of the material movement is the demand for the service. “If one person wants something moved, there are several other people that want something moved, too,” Wade said. “We are always busy.”
Helping Wade keep tabs on what material is moving throughout Y‑12 are material controllers and material clerks, who he manages. Controllers perform “clockings” of material from one area to another, which establishes control and accountability when material is handled at each location. Clocking data includes weight, description, classification, and other details. Material clerks are hands‑on, picking up the material and moving it throughout the facility. Also, clerks do part markings, which provide important identification and verification for weapons components.
“You can have several hundred parts in one storage area,” Wade said. “We dig our way through to find what they need. You never know when someone will have a need for a certain part. We have parts that are 25 years old or older.”
“I’ve been doing this a while, so I’m pretty good at it,” he said. “I definitely know the territory.”
What is your favorite part or aspect of your work environment? How does that aspect make you know the mission is being met?
The accomplishment of getting the material where it needs to be in a timely manner. They will say, hey we appreciate you getting that part to us. This helped us make our deadline.
How does patriotism factor into your life? Did your level of patriotism change after working at Y‑12?
I had to learn that over the early part of my career. As a 19‑year‑old kid, you are just happy to have a job. I didn’t understand the whole method of what we were doing, but later I learned where these parts actually end up — on ships, planes, weapons for the military. The components we move are used in defense of our country.
What’s your favorite outside‑of‑work activity and why?
I have officiated football, basketball, and volleyball games at middle schools and high schools for 35 years. Participating in these activities, you have to have a high tolerance for people calling you names, yelling at you. This has helped me to be a patient person here at Y‑12, where I have to deal with all these requests coming in and with all of these different personalities and attitudes.
What work advice would you offer someone who is new to Pantex or Y‑12?
Gather as much knowledge as you can in every job. Not many people stay in the same job for the life of their career. What you learn in the first job will help you in the second job, the third, and so on. This will help you at each stage of your career.
Radiation is all around us. The sun, the earth, and other sources all emit radiation. At Y‑12 National Security Complex, radiation exposures are equivalent to what you get from nature.
In 2022, for a fourth year in a row, no one at Y‑12 received a dose of more than 350 millirem.
That’s a significant milestone, so much so that Dr. Marvin Adams, NNSA deputy administrator for Defense Programs, noted Y‑12’s achievement to NNSA Nuclear Production Office and Y‑12 site leadership during his visit in early June.
By comparison, a person receives an average annual dose from natural and manmade sources of roughly 620 mrem, or 310 mrem from radon in the air, cosmic rays, and earth materials and 310 mrem from medical, commercial, and industrial sources each year.
The importance of the achievement is obvious. When our bodies are exposed to radiation, they interact at the cellular level. The result of a radiological exposure can range from no damage, to, in the extreme, cancer. The exact effect depends on the specific type and intensity of the radiation exposure. Reducing exposures is a health and safety issue, which is why radiological protection is such an important priority at Y‑12.
The regulatory exposure limit is 5,000 mrem. Y‑12’s milestone shows the level of commitment to safety, by keeping exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). That means ALARA has resulted in exposures that are less than 10% of what is allowed regulatorily.
“All in all, 2022 was an outstanding year for radiological work,” said Scott Wical, Radiological Control manager.
Y‑12 Deputy Site Manager Jan West, who served as senior director of Safety and Industrial Hygiene, was pleased with the numbers. “These rates don’t happen by accident,” she said. “Team commitment to continuously improve the radiological conditions, controls, and work practices is key to our success. It takes everyone doing their part,” she added.
Coming in contact with contaminated surfaces is one of the most challenging aspects of performing radiological work. At the encouragement of Y‑12 Site Manager Gene Sievers, the team made great strides in reducing contamination in work areas.
“Reducing removable contamination from work areas lessens the amount of activity that can become airborne and be breathed in by individuals when conducting work,” Wical said.
That and other efforts to reduce radiation exposures could not have been achieved without a total team effort, including the following:
- Y‑12 senior management
- NNSA Production Office
- RADCON Infrastructure Sustainment
- Program Management
- Facility Operations Management
- Clean Sweep and Sustainment
- Rad workers, planners, engineers, instructors, and supervisors
- ALARA committee members
- Safety and Industrial Hygiene
- RADCON personnel
Wical says he is “blessed and happy” to be part of this successful effort but realizes that the work is never done. “It starts on the floor with our Production folks and with our managers and supervisors,” he said. “It takes everybody’s commitment, and I’m humbled to be part of it.”
At Y-12 National Security Complex, the landscape continues to transform. The latest new facility to begin operations is a state-of-the-art fire station.
Construction began in the spring of 2021 after 20 years of discussion and planning. When visiting the new Y-12 Fire Station in January of this year, NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby described it as a model construction project for NNSA and the Nuclear Security Enterprise.
On July 24, the Y-12 Fire Department officially moved in, making the station fully operational.
“The new facility will improve our department’s ability to serve the plant and our community,” said Fire Chief James Arnold.
The old fire station building, which was originally constructed in the 1940s and expanded in the ‘60s and ‘80s, has a lot of issues according to Chief Arnold and the firefighters who have used the facility.
“We’ve had to live with some rough conditions for a while,” said Y-12 Fire Department Captain Mike Jeffries, a 17-year veteran of Y-12.
“How do I feel about the move to our new fire hall?” Jeffries asked. He smiled. “I’m happy.”
“The upgraded firehouse will not only improve the working environment for our firefighters but also their lifestyle as it will allow us to transition to a more traditional firefighter schedule. It will also house better and more effective equipment,” said Chief Arnold.
The new fire station is one of two NNSA pilot projects at Y-12 designed to streamline the efficiencies and delivery of construction projects under $50 million. The second project was the newly-constructed Emergency Operations Center.
Meet Jan West. She is Y-12 deputy site manager and one of the few women to have served in this role.
All views and opinions are the employee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of CNS.
Jan West personifies adapt and deliver, embracing challenges headfirst and always with a can-do spirit. “Don’t be afraid to try something new to stretch yourself professionally and personally,” is advice she would offer to any new CNS employee. Throughout her own career, she has done just that.
West grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana, but knew from a young age that she wanted more than to end up working at the local Great Dane Trailer manufacturing facility. She joined the Air Force, eager to take advantage of the opportunities the military could offer. Such opportunities led her to become the first person in her family to graduate from college. The Air Force broadened her horizons and stationed her in Anchorage, Alaska, where she was a Command Center Emergency Action Controller.
West took a leap in February 2010, pivoting her career path and coming to work at Y-12. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) created a number of jobs on-site during this time and West is one of the employees hired as a result of that funding. She proved herself willing to jump in, learn more, and ask her signature phrase, “How can I help?” She remembers, “One of my favorite jobs here has been serving as an Integration Lead at 9212. I enjoyed seeing all the pieces of the puzzle come together, and being able to fully realize the pride that goes into our work for the nation.”
Her background and leadership experience made her the right fit to later become senior director of Environment, Safety, and Health. When the pandemic began in 2020, she faced an obstacle that put her up against a difficult opponent. “I had to develop and balance protocol actions that ensured the high-quality health and safety standards we have for employees to continue their important work,” West said. She proved instrumental in navigating uncertainty in order to integrate employees back on-site and into their work areas safely.
She said she is honored to hold the title of deputy site manager for Y-12 as one of the few women to have served in the position. When looking to the future, West said, “I look forward to playing a role in the implementation of the site’s strategic long-term planning objectives.”
Are you doing what you envisioned as a young adult? If so, describe how you got here.
As a young adult I thought I would spend my career in the Air Force. I joined the Y-12 team in February 2010 through the ARRA efforts at Alpha 5 and Beta 4 with the Infrastructure team. I have spent time with the Infrastructure organization in different capacities before joining the Environment, Safety, and Health (ES&H) team, serving the site as the Safety and Industrial Hygiene (S&IH) Senior Manager and ES&H Senior Director. I spent time as the acting Senior Director of Quality for Pantex and Y-12 before becoming the Y-12 Deputy Site Manager.
What is your favorite aspect about your work environment? How does that aspect make you know the mission is being met?
The people and the strong sense of community that comes along with being a part of the Y-12 team. The burden of meeting our mission doesn’t rest on one person—it takes all hands on deck. Our workforce is diverse in experience and backgrounds—it takes all areas of expertise to ensure we meet our mission.
How does patriotism factor into your life? Did your level of patriotism change after working at Pantex or Y-12?
I love and support the USA. Y-12’s mission was a major factor for me in seeking an opportunity to join the Y-12 team.
As an employee, what do you want to be remembered for?
I want to be remembered as someone who takes time to listen and is willing to lend a helping hand.
What’s your favorite outside-of-work activity and why?
I have three—beach trips, football, and Christmas festivities—they all involve time with my family.