Y-12 Blog
Mick Wiest points out his father in a 1948 Y-12 Bulletin. With Mick retiring, the combined time of Y-12 having an M. C. Wiest is 74 years.
M. C. Wiest has been at the plant almost since its inception. When Mick Wiest retires later this year, it will be the first time the name M. C. Wiest will no longer be in the Y-12 directory.
As those of you doing the math may have surmised, M. C. Wiest isn’t just one longterm employee. The original M. C. Wiest was hired in May 1944 to work at Y-12 by Tennessee Eastman Corp. He had just graduated at the top of his class with a degree in chemical engineering from the University of North Dakota and was considering a job offer at Columbia University, but he was also offered a “war job” in Tennessee that would support the country’s World War II effort.
He and his wife, Marie, left North Dakota and moved sight unseen to the Clinton Engineer Works more than 1,200 miles away.
M. C.’s official name was Merritt, but was known as “Red,” and he ended up spending his entire career at Y-12, mostly with the Product Engineering Department. During part of that time, Red was a key liaison working special projects between Y-12 and the weapon design labs in the western U.S. and the United Kingdom.
Dubbed by a Y-12 plant manager as “the guru of complex devices,” his mechanical skills also helped him with his lifelong hobby of gunsmithing. As people learned of his abilities to fix guns, he opened a gun shop next to his Oak Ridge home in 1947. That business grew into a family operated firearms business and indoor range called Guncraft Sports Inc. that operated until 2005 when the business was sold to Coal Creek Armory.
Red and Marie were blessed with five children, all born in Oak Ridge. The third son was named after their father, and M. C. Wiest Jr. never went by Merritt either. Instead, he was dubbed Mickey at birth.
Mickey, now Mick, Wiest was hired to work in the Y-12 Environmental Compliance Department in March 1988, and, for approximately one year, worked with his father at Y-12. Mick said, “This caused confusion more than once, but the most notable time was when a mix up of our security clearance numbers caused an immediate re-investigation of me, but the problem was eventually worked out.”
On November 1, Mick will retire from the Environmental Compliance Department after 30 years of service, thus ending the “M. C. Wiest era” at Y-12.
“I’m proud of the work my father and thousands of other Y-12ers did in helping to bring WW II to a close, and for their major contribution to winning the Cold War,” said Mick. “I’d also like to point out that the work Y-12 does today is equally important, and I am proud to have been a part of it.”
Mick’s strong interest in history has helped Y-12 work toward compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, while also performing his primary duties related to the Clean Water Act. But his contributions to local history won’t stop there, despite his retirement.
Mick and his wife Teri, a semi-retired teacher and Mick’s high school sweetheart, will stay in Oak Ridge and remain active in the community. As a founding member of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, Mick plans to continue preserving and sharing Oak Ridge history. ORHPA recently opened the Oak Ridge History Museum at their headquarters in the Midtown Community Center on 102 Robertsville Road.
When asked about leaving Y-12 during its 75th anniversary, he said, “These occasions are a good time to reflect on our important role in United States and world history. I hope the interest in our history does not fade because there is still the need to preserve historic buildings, such as Beta 3 and 9731, which will help tell our remarkable history for years to come.” #y12turns75
With Y12’s new paper disintegrator, all of the site’s sensitive and nonsensitive paper will be disintegrated onsite.
Y-12 recently completed installation and startup testing of a new dual-stage paper disintegrator to better support site information security and sustainability practices. Now, 100 percent of Y-12’s sensitive and nonsensitive office paper is disintegrated on-site and available for recycling into compressed paper products.
Processing this paper on site reduces potential security risks. “The new disintegrator allows for expanded control of unclassified workrelated paper, ensuring all paper is properly destroyed,” said Marcia Baird, manager of Information Security.
Moreover, the new disintegrator system produces paper briquettes to be used by off-site recycling vendors to make compressed paper products, such as egg cartons. “Our old disintegrator cut paper into such small pieces that the paper fibers weren’t long enough to go through the recycling process,” said Jan Jackson, program manager for Sustainability and Stewardship. “The new dual-stage disintegrator system first shreds, then fine cuts paper, and finally compresses the disintegrated paper into recyclable briquettes.”
Y-12’s new disintegrator replaces equipment that had exceeded its design life and was no longer a reliable, cost-efficient option. The new disintegrator will process more than 300,000 pounds of paper annually, nearly doubling the quantity previously processed on-site.
It’s a go.
Y-12 recently received the Qualification Evaluation Release for the B61-12 Life Extension Program canned subassembly. Receiving this QER was the final step to authorize CNS to begin manufacturing and delivery of the program’s first production unit, scheduled for March 2019.
Y-12 Site Manager Bill Tindal said, “We are delivering a key contribution to global security through this program. I couldn’t be more proud of how all organizations pulled together to accomplish this difficult task.”
Watch the Computed Tomology Technology video
For decades, Y-12 has used x-ray technology to inspect parts for reliability issues.
This two-dimensional process is not only time-consuming, the rising costs of the technology make it prohibitive to operate in a production environment.
Developers at Y-12 are taking Computed Tomography (CT) technology and using it to produce high-fidelity data for batches of parts in a quick, efficient manner, which makes quality checks a one-stop evaluation.
Take a look at how Y-12 is seeing the unseen—quickly and accurately.
Y-12 Procurement Coordinator Derek Raby, left, and Dennis Lorick of onsite vendor Tevet discuss some of the items that will be available at the new tool crib and parts station.
The way parts and materials will be ordered, handled, and distributed at Pantex and Y-12 is changing—instead of going out to get parts and tools from a vendor, the vendor is coming to us, and it’s not costing us anything—in fact, it’s saving taxpayer dollars.
Known as vendor-managed inventory, the concept basically brings the supplier and materials to the point of use, similar to having an on site storefront. It was piloted at the new John C. Drummond Center at Pantex where a catalog of 10,000 office supplies was reduced to 1,000 approved items that are delivered directly to the employee. Until the items are delivered to the worker, they are owned and managed by the supplier.
The savings come from bulk ordering, reducing redundant ordering by various departments as well as more costly emergency ordering. CNS does not own or pay for materials until they are issued to a work order or end user. The small business provider will manage the materials and ensure stock levels are maintained.
Once the tool crib station at Y-12 is up and running, a second station will be opened. Both the office supplies and the tool crib/parts models will eventually expand to include both sites.