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Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Post-1943 Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this collection should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for these items.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Robert Bauman
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
William Tyler
Location
The location of the interview
Washington State University Tri-Cities
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
<p>Northwest Public Television | Tyler_William</p>
<p>Robert Bauman: Now you can give it right back to her?</p>
<p>William Tyler: Yeah, I plan on it.</p>
<p>Man One: Exactly. All right, get this off your face there.</p>
<p>Bauman: Does your daughter live here in Richland?</p>
<p>Tyler: She lives right across the street from me.</p>
<p>Bauman: Oh, does she? Oh, there you go. Well, you can really give it to her then. [LAUGHTER] She can't avoid you.</p>
<p>Tyler: Well in fact, we work together at HAMMER.</p>
<p>Man one: I’m rolling.</p>
<p>Bauman: All right. Well I think we're ready to get started. So let's start by having you say your name and also spell it for us.</p>
<p>Tyler: My name is William T. Tyler. W-I-L-L-I-A-M, T, T-Y-L-E-R.</p>
<p>Bauman: And you go by Bill?</p>
<p>Tyler: Bill, yeah.</p>
<p>Bauman: All right. And today's date is August 28<sup>th</sup> of 2013. And we're conducting this interview on the campus of Washington State University, Tri-Cities. So let's start, if we can, by maybe having you talk about what brought you to the area. When did you come to work at Hanford, and what brought you here?</p>
<p>Tyler: We came out here on vacation from Oklahoma in 1947 to see my dad's brothers and sisters. And we were going to stay for a week or so. And my dad applied for a job here and got it, and we stayed. I thought it was the end of the world. This was not a pretty place in 1947. But I went in the Navy in 1950, got into the nuclear program and came out here in 1955. Went to work at Hanford. Worked as an HPT until '82, I believe. And then I went into management in health physics.</p>
<p>Bauman: So HPT, you mean health physics technician. Is that was HPT is?</p>
<p>Tyler: Uh-huh. Sorry.</p>
<p>Bauman: That's okay. So how old were in 1947 when you came on vacation?</p>
<p>Tyler: I think I was 15.</p>
<p>Bauman: Okay. What sort of job did your father get?</p>
<p>Tyler: He worked in transportation.</p>
<p>Bauman: And you already had aunts and uncles who came here?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yeah.</p>
<p>Bauman: So you said you thought this was the end of the world. What do you mean by that? What are your first impressions of the place?</p>
<p>Tyler: [LAUGHTER] Well, my first impression is we got here July the 5th. And my aunt and uncle had a little cafe on downtown Kennewick, on Kennewick Avenue. And it was about 104 degrees out. And we were driving down the street looking for it. And my dad says, man, I wouldn't live here if it's the last place in the world. And back then there was not a lot of trees. There was in Kennewick, and a few in Richland. But every time the wind blew, it was dusty and the tumbleweeds flew, and a lot of dust storms. In fact, they call them termination winds. Because everything was booming out in Hanford and every time the wind blew, people didn't like that and they'd just pick up and quit. So they called it termination winds.</p>
<p>Bauman: Do you know when your aunt and uncles came here?</p>
<p>Tyler: My aunt was born here in Kennewick. My uncle came out here in '37, '38, somewhere along that area.</p>
<p>Bauman: Oh, okay, so you'd had relatives here before the Hanford site.</p>
<p>Tyler: Oh yeah.</p>
<p>Bauman: And so when your family first came in 1947 and you dad got the job and stayed here, where did you live?</p>
<p>Tyler: We lived in Kennewick for a year. And then we got a house in Richland in 1948 at 635 Basswood.</p>
<p>Bauman: That was a government home then?</p>
<p>Tyler: Uh-huh. It was ranch house. And we moved in Thanksgiving Day of '48. And my future wife moved in next door the same day. I didn't know that was my future wife, but it turned out to be. And I still live on Basswood. Different house, but--</p>
<p>Bauman: So did you go to high school here then?</p>
<p>Tyler: I went to Kennewick. I started in Kennewick because that's where we lived and I didn't want to transfer. So I rode the intercity bus every day to Kennewick and back. I graduated in 1950 and then somebody in Washington wanted me to join their services. [LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>Bauman: So how would you describe, outside of your first impression, how would you describe the community of Richland in late '40s, early 1950s?</p>
<p>Tyler: It actually—it was a very good place to live. I didn't realize it at the time. It was smaller, much smaller--probably 5,000 people in each of the cities. It was a good place to live if you could ignore the wind blowing and the dust storms and that sort of thing. But it kind of grows on you. I know I wouldn't live anywhere else.</p>
<p>Bauman: In those early years when you were here in the '40s and '50s, do you remember any particular community events that stand out in your mind?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yeah, Atomic Frontier Days, the Grape Festival in Kennewick, and then the fair. Nothing big or spectacular, but it was something to do.</p>
<p>Bauman: Can you describe Atomic Frontier Days a little bit? What sorts of things--</p>
<p>Tyler: Well, normally they had a queen and a parade of course. And it was just kind of a—I don't know how--just a parade and kind of a get together type thing for the people that lived here.</p>
<p>Bauman: So let's talk about your work a little bit now. You said you started working in '55.</p>
<p>Tyler: ’55.</p>
<p>Bauman: So can you talk about who you worked for at time and a little bit more detail about what sorts of work you did? What area of the Hanford site you worked in?</p>
<p>Tyler: Okay, I started February the 22<sup>nd</sup>, 1955. And my first work assignment was 200 West Area tank farms. And then I went up to the REDOX facility which was a separations facility. A couple months later, then I went to U Plant. And then I went to T Plant, which were all separation facilities. And then I went over to PUREX in December of 1955. That was prior to startup. We started up our first spiked run was I think March or April of '56. And I worked there until '62 I believe. When I worked there, we also was switched with the 100 Area HPTs, or RCTs, or radiation monitors for exposure reasons. Because they got a lot more exposure than we did, so we would switch with them. And I got to work in all the 100 Area reactors except N when they were running, and some of the 300 Area.</p>
<p>Bauman: So just about everywhere?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yeah, I worked basically in every facility out here except 234-5.</p>
<p>Bauman: And so was GE the contractor? What contractor did you work for?</p>
<p>Tyler: GE. They were the prime contractor. And they left here in '66 I believe. Then Rockwell and Westinghouse and Fluor Daniel and MSA.</p>
<p>Bauman: So as a health physics technician, what exactly did that mean? What sorts of things did you do on a daily basis?</p>
<p>Tyler: Well as you know, there was a lot of contamination, radiation. And our job was to set the dose rates if people were going into a radiation area. We would go in, set the dose rates, stay with them. Got to make sure that the dose rates didn't increase while they were in there. We surveyed them out when they were done with the GMs and alpha detectors to make sure they didn't take any contamination home with them. And that was our prime responsibility. We maintain control of personnel exposure rates and their contamination, if they had any, and made sure that everything was as clean as we could get it. That's the short and sweet version.</p>
<p>Bauman: Yeah. And you did that, obviously, at all these different areas you worked at on the site?</p>
<p>Tyler: Everywhere, inside, outside, burial grounds.</p>
<p>Bauman: Were there ever any incidents while you were doing this where people did have excessive exposure or anything along those lines?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yeah, there was a lot of them. When GE came here--well, they were the prime contractor. Back in those days, you really couldn't talk about your job. You could say that you worked at Hanford and that was pretty much it. But yes, there was a lot of good memories and bad memories. Some really high exposure rates almost on a daily basis, because everything was running. And what will go wrong probably does. And it was very interesting work. It was something different every day. It's the kind of job that you look forward to doing and working. I did. I really enjoyed it.</p>
<p>Bauman: So what was the process or procedure if someone had an overexposure?</p>
<p>Tyler: Well, you had your dosimetry, which—Battelle read that. So you know what they got. And that's the record that's with you forever. At that time I think we worked--[PHONE RINGING] Shit. We worked under a 50 millirem per day limits, or 300 a week. And sometimes you would exceed that. But we were issued dosimetry everyday when we came to work. And you had a film badge which was read I think once a month. But they kept a running record of your exposure. That's why when we, when 100 Area radiation monitor--[PHONE RINGING] Hello. Can I call you back, Ian? Okay, thanks. Sorry. I don't know how to turn it off.</p>
<p>Bauman: So we're talking about the dosimeter--</p>
<p>Tyler: Yeah, they kept records of all your exposures. And then every month they would send you a copy or let you know what it was. But if before the end of the year was out, if you were running short of exposure, then they would transfer people--particularly the radiation monitors--to different areas. And they what they were doing was using our exposure instead of--and letting their people cool down a little bit. It was just a way of equalizing the dose rates to the personnel. And it worked good in theory. And there was some--and I probably shouldn't say this—but there was some little minor ripples in the water, because people accused the other people of hanging back and now I got to come save you, that sort of thing. But it was all in fun. Everybody knew how serious the job was. And that was just part of their job.</p>
<p>Bauman: And so how long did you work as a health physics technician then?</p>
<p>Tyler: I think until 1982 and I went into management in health physics. At that time, they called us managers. And I was the manager of East tank farms until 1988. And then I transferred over to the West Area environmental group and took that over. My responsibilities were all of the outside radiation contamination areas. Burial sites. '89 I retired. Came back three months later and went to work in the environmental restoration part-time. And I did that until 1995. And then when Bechtel came in, I left there and went back to health physics side and become a evaluator at HAMMER for radiation protection, which I still do.</p>
<p>Bauman: So you still work for--</p>
<p>Tyler: Two to three days a week.</p>
<p>Bauman: So you mentioned earlier the sort of secrecy of some aspects of Hanford. Obviously secrecy, security were a very important part of. I wonder if you could discuss that at all, any ways that impacted your work?</p>
<p>Tyler: GE had a very rigid plan of how they wanted things to go. And security of course was top secret. If you went—and a few people did--they go down and have a beer at the bar and they get to talking. And you never know who you're talking to you. And there was cases where people didn't have a job the next morning. Because security would overhear them. And you were pretty much done. So people didn't talk about their job. They didn't even talk about it with their family. Security was very strict. When you—well, for instance, when you go to work in the morning or if you're on shifts, same thing. You would catch the bus at the bus lot. Get on the bus, go through the barricade at the Y. If I was going to PUREX, we'd go up, pull in to the front gate of PUREX. You'd get out, off the bus. Go through the badge house. Pick up your dosimetry. Go out. Get back on the bus. The bus would pull inside the gate. Get back on the bus. Go down to PUREX. Get off the bus. Go through their badge house. And they would check your lunch bucket and all that. And then go into the building. And then in the evening, just reverse that process and back out again. So they were very strict. If you drove your car, you could not drive it past the main gate of East Area. You parked outside. And when you could drive inside, security would check the glovebox and the trunk and whatever was in the car. So it was very regimented.</p>
<p>Bauman: I wanted to ask you about, in 1963 President Kennedy visited for the opening of the N reactor. I wondered if you were there and have any memories of that event at all?</p>
<p>Tyler: I was not there because I was on shift at that day, or I probably would have been.</p>
<p>Bauman: Mm-hm. Obviously, one of things that happened with Hanford is the shift from focus on production to focus on clean up. And I wonder if that shift impacted your work in any way?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yes. Like I said before, I was the manager of East tank farms. And my office was at Semi Works, which is in 200 East Area, which was a pilot plant for PUREX. Semi Works was running. We were doing strontium cesium runs. But then when the edict came out that we were going to phase out and clean up, one of the first facilities--well I think it was the first facility—that we started tearing down was Semi Works. And D&D did the work. But we shut it all down and demolished the building and just imploded it in place. Built a dirt berm over it, cleaned it up. Most of the cells and the tanks are still in place, but they're full of grout. And then there's concrete over it. And what we did was tear down—this was approximately a three-story building with three stories underground. So when we tore down the building—it had a lot of piping and columns—we tore down the building and left the west wall standing. And we filled everything we could get inside like the basement and concreted it in place. And then we undercut the west wall. And this is probably four foot thick. And got a couple of Caterpillars and chains and hooked it over the top of the west wall. Pulled it down over like a lid. And then dirt berm over it, and there it is. And the stack that was there—the exhaust, the big stack—they imploded that and laid her right alongside the building. One guy did that. We deconned it first, and he came in, and a dynamite expert told us where we was going to put the stack and put a stick out on the end in the ground like they do now on the TV. And laid that stack right down on that stick, all by himself. [LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>Bauman: So that definitely did make for significant changes then, the shift from production?</p>
<p>Tyler: Very significant, because that was kind of pilot test for all the other anticipated deconning and decommissioning they we're going to do, which is still going on.</p>
<p>Bauman: Let's shift now and talk a little bit about HAPO. I wonder--I know you've been involved with them quite often. I wonder if you can talk about your involvement when you became involved in HAPO and how that came about?</p>
<p>Tyler: Well let's see. First, HAPO was a GE acronym which stands for Hanford Atomic Products Operations, which was the name of GE's part of this. GESA, which is another credit union down the street, was the General Electric Supervisors Association. GE was very particular about their managers or supervisors were a step above the blue collar worker. And I think they still maintain that. If you were a supervisor, it's white shirt and tie. And you don't fraternize with--So when the credit committee wanted to get started, that's the name they chose, just HAPO. And it's '53. And I was looking at one of the early--the record book. And I think there's five or six of the charter members of the first—that I worked with that were radiation monitors just like I was. But I never joined HAPO until my wife was--she likes C First. And I never joined HAPO until I think '71. And then a friend of mine that I worked with talked me into getting on the committee that approved loans, credit committee, which I did. And then I got invited later to go on the board of directors and got voted in and been there ever since. I really enjoyed it. It's a great credit union.</p>
<p>Bauman: So is it the board of directors then, primarily is it either current or former Hanford employees?</p>
<p>Tyler: No. It used to be when we were federal, you had to work out here to join HAPO. And then they relinquished or changed the bylaws so that anybody could join HAPO. If you give them $5 and signed up, you were a member for life. But initially it was you had to work here to join.</p>
<p>Bauman: And you said you didn't join until '71. What led you to decide to join at that point?</p>
<p>Tyler: The guy I carpool with, one of them, convinced me that I should do that. [LAUGHTER] And I didn't like C First. I never did like C First. But my wife liked them because you got at the end of the month, you got all of your checks back. And she liked that. But I joined HAPO and started my own checking account. And then she finally joined shortly after I did. And now the rest is history. [LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>Bauman: So, I know you weren't part of the formation of the credit union. But I wonder if you can talk about it a little more? If you know more, were the employee unions at Hanford involved in the credit union, establishing that?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yes.</p>
<p>Bauman: And anything you can talk about that?</p>
<p>Tyler: Helen Van Patten was one. GESA started it first. And then the blue collars said well, we got to have one of those. The first store was down by the Spudnut Shop. I think we had one or two employees. And everything was in a ledger, handwritten. Joe Blow borrowed $25. It was very basic. But fortunately, it kept growing and membership increased.</p>
<p>Bauman: So the unions saw it as a way to provide credit union opportunities--</p>
<p>Tyler: Right.</p>
<p>Bauman:--for blue collar workers or laborers or whatever? Okay. So I want to—going back to your work at Hanford, what are some of the more challenging aspects of your work, and maybe some more rewarding aspects of your work?</p>
<p>Tyler: That’s a good question. Probably one of the most challenging was the responsibility when you're out on a hot job where the contamination levels are great and the radiation levels are great, and you have a whole crew of people. It challenges you to--it's always in the back of your mind that something's going to happen and I'm not going to see it, or I'm not going to catch it. And somebody's going to get overexposed. And that's always in the back of your mind. Because--and I have to beat my own drum here for a bit—radiation monitoring and health physics now, whatever they are, it's a very challenging job. You're responsible for--you're taking care of people. And they trust you. And they expect you to look out for them. And it's a lot of responsibility, but most everybody accepts that gladly, because they know how important it is. Because you're responsible for--you could get somebody really overexposed, and who knows what the consequences are? As far as rewards for that, I think is the satisfaction of when the job is done, that you knew you did your best job. Nobody got hurt. Nobody got overexposed. Nobody got contaminated. And the job got done.</p>
<p>Bauman: Were there any events or incidents or anything, sort of unique things that happened during your time working at Hanford that sort of really stands out to you?</p>
<p>Tyler: When I first hired in, like I said, I went to REDOX. One of the problems they had shortly before I got here was they had a ruthenium—they ran some ruthenium and they played it out in the stack. And then it broke loose. And it kind of went out in the desert and on the ground. And you had ruthenium chunks of—it looked like white paper that built up on the inside the stack and then finally broke loose and fluttered out and went everywhere. And one of my first jobs with a GM and a walking stick was walking out through the desert and finding these things. Little specks, big specks, didn't have any trouble finding them. [LAUGHTER] They were very hot. And I remember we used the KOA cans from T Plant, which were little round cans, metal cans about that big around, about this high with a snap-on lid. And that's what we put them in, with dirt for shielding. And then buried them. But there's been a lot of incidents of hot burials from PUREX. I remember some where we used a burial string. We used a locomotive, a whole bunch of flat cars. And then at that time, they'd build big wooden boxes. And I recall one big one that had enough lumber in it to build two B houses. Huge—it sat on two flat cars. And we put it in, and we took readings over the top of the tunnel as it went out of the tunnel towards the burial ground. And it read greater than 500 R. And as you know, 500 R for an hour is a lethal dose rate to 50% of the people, 60%. And then you go down the railroad track behind B Plant, pull it across the highway which patrol barricaded the road. So you pull the string across the road and then back it into the burial ground. And then you had to sink—this box was built on skids. And a big long steel cable lay on another flat car, three or four flat cars away from it. So you would pull that. And you would pull it down into a burial trench. And the Cat would be down there ready. And the train would back up and they would grab that cable, put the eye on. Hook it to the Cat. And then the Cat skinner would pull the cable off. And the train would move up until the boxes sit here and the cables here. And the Cat's down here pulling. And then we'd get up to the--and there was a dock where you could slide it off. And you would turn that box and pull it in. Pull it down into the trench, down to the other end, wherever you wanted it. Unhook the Cat. Leave it. Pull the Cat out. And then they would backfill that box. And that's the way they did the burials. And it worked great except when the box collapsed unexpectedly.</p>
<p>Bauman: Then not so great.</p>
<p>Tyler: Yeah, that's not a good--that happened once or twice.</p>
<p>Bauman: During your years working out there, were you ever concerned about your own safety, health, protection, in any way?</p>
<p>Tyler: Well as stupid as it may sound, no. I never was. Because I always figured I knew what I was doing. And I received some very good training in the Navy, which helped. But I never worried about it. I always trusted me.</p>
<p>Bauman: Were you a member of a union when you were working at Hanford? And what union was that? And I guess, what sort of relationship did the union have with management here at Hanford during the time you were here?</p>
<p>Tyler: Good and bad. [LAUGHTER] I used to be chief steward for the radiation monitors. I went through two negotiations. And after the last one, I decided I didn't want any more of that. Chief steward's a thankless job, but somebody's got to do it.</p>
<p>Bauman: What does that mean exactly? What—chief steward--</p>
<p>Tyler: Well, you're the union rep plant wide for all of the HPTs. And I had this grandiose idea that I could just change everything. It's a great idea, but it doesn't work. It's a job that somebody has to do. And it's a job that is thankless. Because somebody's always mad at you. Whatever you do, in some of the people's eyes, you could always do better. And it's just not a good job. [LAUGHTER] But I enjoyed it. You learn a lot. And you learn both sides of the fence--how the company thinks and how the union thinks. And then you try and compromise.</p>
<p>Bauman: Were there ever any times you were here where there was a strike or any sort of--</p>
<p>Tyler: Two--'66 and '76.</p>
<p>Bauman: And were those sort of across the site?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yep. And in '66, after we settled the '66 strike, GE left.</p>
<p>Bauman: Was that one of the reasons they left?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yeah, well, they had planned to leave. And then that's when--because when GE was here, they were the only contractor. And then when they left, they kind of broke it up into the 200 Areas and the 100 Areas. And it's always been different contractors, not just one prime contractor.</p>
<p>Bauman: Do you remember what some of the key issues were in '66 and '76 in terms of--</p>
<p>Tyler: Wages. Wages were always the key issue. Well, I take that back. '66 or '76 was, they were going to do away with the buses. And that was a key issue for everybody. It didn't happen, but it was a--that was when they spent all the money redoing the bus lot. And then a couple years later, they did away with the buses anyway. But we did get air conditioned buses. Before we had old buses, the old green buses. Well like the ones sitting down at--</p>
<p>Bauman: The CREHST Museum?</p>
<p>Tyler: Yeah. Those were some of the newer ones. The older ones were international buses that looked like a truck. Cold in the winter and hot in the summer. But they worked. When they did away with the buses, see, that did away with a lot of jobs in the bus lot. Maintenance, everything there, which was a lot of people.</p>
<p>Bauman: So part of that was about jobs and issues of transportation?</p>
<p>Tyler: Mm-hmm.</p>
<p>Bauman: Anything I haven't asked you about that you'd like to talk about or that you think we should talk about?</p>
<p>Tyler: Well, we've covered pretty much every--well, we've covered pretty much everything I think. I don't really know what you're looking for.</p>
<p>Bauman: Just your experience. That's why I wonder if there's something that you experienced some event or something that I haven't asked you about yet that you think would be important to—</p>
<p>Tyler: Well. When I retired, I took the first early out and then got bored to death and came back. When I was in the environmental group in West Area, a good friend of mine was an environmental manager outside the site. But he talked me into coming back part time and become a waste shipper and a waste handler. Which was--I'd never done it. I knew what it was. But I finally relented. I enjoyed it. It's entirely different. Because I was kind of burned out on radiation protection, and I wanted to do something different. Didn't want to retire, but I wanted to do something different. So I went to the classes and become a certified waste shipper and a waste handler. And we took care of all of the sites outside of 200 East, 200 West. All the burial sites, all the drilling sides, the river, pretty much everything. And it was very interesting. Until '95, when I decided I didn't like the contractor. [LAUGHTER] And I went back to health physics.</p>
<p>Bauman: Most of the students I teach now were born after the Cold War ended. Obviously most of your career, the Cold War was going on during most of the time you were working at Hanford. So I'm wondering what you think would be important for young people today and people in future generations to know about working at Hanford during the Cold War?</p>
<p>Tyler: I'm trying to remember. We had the strike in '66. And there was almost another strike four or five years later. In fact midnight was the deadline when we were supposed to go on strike. And at 11:30, we got a notification that the President had put a stop to the strike because of the situation with the Cold War thing. And I think that's the first and the last time that ever happened. But as far as--</p>
<p>Bauman: So then about 1970 or so?</p>
<p>Tyler: Early, yeah, '71 or '72 maybe. No, it was before that, because I was still on shift. It was probably '68, '69 maybe. But as far as the Cold War, it's still going on in different forms—my personal opinion. You look back at history--and I've lived through a lot of it--nothing has really changed. Like what's going on now, and the Bible says there'll be war and rumors of war. And that's correct. Because whatever our President does—whatever he does is going to be wrong in a lot of people's eyes. It's kind of like if you don't do it, you should have. And if you do do it, you shouldn't have. [LAUGHTER] It's a different type of cold war. Instead of—we used to worry about Russia. And I'm not too sure that—maybe we should still be worrying about Russia and a lot of other countries that--Things have changed. But they haven't—the basic things that caused the Cold War hasn't changed. There's all kind of weapons. I don't know.</p>
<p>Bauman: All right. I think that's all the questions I have for you.</p>
<p>Tyler: Okay.</p>
<p>Bauman: I want to thank you for coming in today.</p>
<p>Tyler: Thank you for having me.</p>
<p>Bauman: Pleasure to talk to you.</p>
<p>Tyler: Good.</p>
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
00:47:27
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
244 kbps
Hanford Sites
Any sites on the Hanford site mentioned in the interview
100 Area
2-East Area
200 Area
200 East Area
300 Area
B Plant
K-West Area
T Plant
U Plant
Years in Tri-Cities Area
Date range for the interview subject's experience in and around the Hanford site
1947-today
Years on Hanford Site
Years on the Hanford Site, if any.
1955-still working
Names Mentioned
Any named mentioned (with any significance) from the local community.
Helen Van Patten
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with William Tyler
Description
An account of the resource
An interview with William Tyler conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. The Hanford Oral History Project was sponsored by the Mission Support Alliance and the United States Department of Energy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hanford Oral History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
08-28-2013
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this oral history should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for this item.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Date Modified
Date on which the resource was changed.
2018-6-2: Metadata v1 created – [A.H.]
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
The Hanford Oral History Project operates under a sub-contract from Mission Support Alliance (MSA), who are the primary contractors for the US Department of Energy's curatorial services relating to the Hanford site. This oral history project became a part of the Hanford History Project in 2015, and continues to add to this US Department of Energy collection.
100 Area
1955
2-East Area
200 Area
200 East
200 East Area
200 West Area
300 Area
B Plant
Battelle
Bechtel
Cat
Cold War
General Electric
HAMMER
Hanford
K-West Area
Kennedy
Kennewick
PUREX
T Plant
U Plant
War
Westinghouse
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Post-1943 Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this collection should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for these items.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Douglas O’Reagan
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Sue Olson
Location
The location of the interview
Washington State University Tri-Cities
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
<p>Douglas O’Reagan: Okay. Well, thanks for being here, first of all. To start off, would you please pronounce and spell your name for us?</p>
<p>Sue Olson: Sue, S-U-E. Olson, O-L-S-O-N.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Okay, thank you. And I am Douglas O’Reagan. I’m conducting an oral interview here as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. It’s February 5<sup>th</sup>, 2016. This interview is being conducted on the campus of Washington State University Tri-Cities. So just to get us started, would you please tell us something about your life before you came to Hanford? Where you were growing up and so on.</p>
<p>Olson: I was born in Claude, Texas. I graduated from Panhandle High School as valedictorian in my class. I went to Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. Then went to University of Texas in Austin, Texas. I was—[COUGH] Excuse me. I was in college in an accounting class at the University of Texas in Austin when World War II was declared. I heard the President declare World War II. So at the end of that year, I took a civil service test as clerk typist and I started working for US Corps of Engineers. I first worked at Pantex Ordnance Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and I had to transfer to Tyler, Texas to an army replacement training. And then after that, I received a teletype that I was to enter in for Hanford. We had received a teletype from a lady who had transferred up here, and she had said, don’t come here. It’s rattlesnakes, sagebrush, and dust storms. [LAUGHTER] So I transferred to the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. And Manhattan Project had three areas—I worked for the army major who was in charge of one of the areas there. DuPont was the contractor there. And at Oak Ridge, I met Robert Olson, who was with me at DuPont. Before I met him, he worked at the University of Chicago to work on the Manhattan Project—he worked on at the University. And he transferred to Oak Ridge; I met him there. We were married there, and then we transferred to Hanford, with DuPont. We arrived here October 1<sup>st</sup>, 1944.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: What sort of work did you do at Oak Ridge?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, he and I were at DuPont getting ready to work. The work on the Manhattan Project was to develop the bomb. That was what it was for. And he worked at Oak Ridge.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Do you know what sort of—was he working in chemicals or physics? Do you know what sort of work he was doing there?</p>
<p>Olson: No, because it was all secret.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: I see. And did you say you were also working there as a clerk?</p>
<p>Olson: I worked as a secretary for the Army Major, who was in charge of the X-10 area in Oak Ridge.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Okay. When you arrived at Hanford, what sort of work did you undertake here?</p>
<p>Olson: Oh, I signed up to be secretary and DuPont was the contractor here for the first year or so. And they sent me out to 200 West Area to be in the stenographic pool. I was the only secretary there. There were several departments, and all the departments brought their paperwork in to me. [LAUGHTER] And I took dictation for all of them who wanted to write letters of any type. Then they sent another girl out—another secretary out, but she couldn’t take dictation. So I did all of that. There were several departments. I don’t remember the names of all the departments, but it was a major process.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Was it similar to what you were doing at Oak Ridge, or was it a new kind of work?</p>
<p>Olson: It was the same kind of work, secretarial work.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Right. What was your impression of the Tri-Cities when you arrived? Was it like you had been warned?</p>
<p>Olson: No. [LAUGHTER] We drove along the highway south of town, and Bob looked over and said, there it is. And we could see a few houses. We went to the hotel to check in at the hotel, and the hotel was called the transient quarters. [LAUGHTER] The hotel in Oak Ridge was called the guest house. We were in the hotel about three days. Then we moved into—at that time the houses were assigned to people. There were only the two of us, and so they moved us into a one-bedroom prefab on Winslow Street.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: In Richland?</p>
<p>Olson: Winslow Street in Richland. And there was one street behind that, and behind that street was desert, all the way out to the river.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: What were your impressions of the house? Did you like the house?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, the house was adequate. It was 600 square feet.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Mm-hmm. Had a question and it went right out of my mind. [LAUGHTER] Okay. So could you tell us, what was an average day at your job? You said you took dictation, but what other kinds of work—</p>
<p>Olson: Typing. In 200 West Area in 1944, it was typing. Except for the people who dictated. One man came in one day and he dictated the evacuation process, which took him several hours to do it. And the evacuation process—if it had ever had to happen—the process was that it would be on buses—cattle car buses. [LAUGHTER] The seats were on the sides of the bus, vertically, not horizontally across as they are in most buses. But there was never an evacuation process. There was preparation for it, if it had happened.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Interesting. I understand the transportation to get to jobs on the Hanford site was difficult. Did you take buses?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, there were buses. There were buses, yes.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: was that a long commute?</p>
<p>Olson: Yes. I don’t remember the number of miles, but it’s a long commute from Richland into the West area.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: What was your husband working on?</p>
<p>Olson: He worked on—it was a group of scientists that were—13 or 14 or 15, something like that—and they wrote the separations process. Which was part of the process.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: I guess that was probably a different part of the Hanford site from where you were working?</p>
<p>Olson: No, it was in 200 West Area, too. Yes. And it was a group of scientists who had transferred from Oak Ridge along with Bob.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Right. Could you please describe Hanford as a place to work? It’s a broad question. Let’s see—what were some of the more challenging aspects of your job?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, that I typed for eight hours a day. I typed or took dictation eight hours a day. No coffee breaks, nothing like that, and everything was confidential. Nobody discussed their job with any other person.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: I would guess you would have had to have had pretty high clearance to be taking dictation on all these sensitive matters. What was that process like?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, I worked in Two West and then I transferred to B Plant, and I went to 300 Area. My next job, I worked for Wilfred Johnson when he was assistant general manager. And I worked in the 703 Building. I had Top Secret clearance there. So I had kept the filing cabinet locked. I took dictation from him. The rest of it was the type you’re making phone calls.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: When did you find out about what the goal of the Hanford site was, to make the weapons?</p>
<p>Olson: When the bomb was dropped, I read it in the local paper.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: What was your reaction?</p>
<p>Olson: I was happy. That the US was going to be safe.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Right. Do you—trying to think how to phrase—is that your impression of that’s when everybody around you found out as well, or was it sort of a general surprise that the—</p>
<p>Olson: Yes. It was a surprise to everybody, I think. That’s my opinion. Except the men like my husband who were working on it.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Did you continue working at the Hanford site after the war?</p>
<p>Olson: Yes. I worked there for ten years.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Did your work change substantially once the war was over?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, as I said, I worked as a secretary in 200 West, and then I moved to B Plant. And I worked in B Plant, and then I went to the 300 Area and was a secretary for the head of metallurgy. And then I had the job as—I was then an executive secretary for Wilfred “Bill” Johnson. And I retired after that period.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Did the workplace environment change in that time? You mentioned there were no breaks at first.</p>
<p>Olson: Change in what way?</p>
<p>O’Reagan: You mentioned it was very focused work during the war, no breaks, really concentrating to get the job done. Did that become more relaxed eventually, or was it still the same pace?</p>
<p>Olson: Not in the jobs I worked on. Everybody was there to work.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Interesting.</p>
<p>Olson: No coffee breaks, nothing like that.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Interesting. How about—can you tell us something about your life outside of work during the wartime?</p>
<p>Olson: We skied. Bob was from Wisconsin. He was a skier. And I grew up in Panhandle, Texas, and I did not ski. But I took lessons. And we skied on weekends.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Where would you go?</p>
<p>Olson: We went to the closest one, over by—the closest one, which was south of East Richland. Tollgate. We went to Tollgate and skied there. And then we went up to the Snoqualmie Pass, and we skied there when it had only three rope tows. Before they put in any kind of lifts. It was—and I don’t remember the year for that, but—shortly after we got here, we went to Snoqualmie Pass.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Did the social environment—did life in Richland change for you outside of work once the war was over?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, there were a few more activities, because while the war was going on, there was nowhere to go. [LAUGHTER] We had a friend from Oak Ridge we played bridge with part of the time, and then we skied weekends.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Did you feel it was easy to meet new people when you moved here?</p>
<p>Olson: Did I feel--?</p>
<p>O’Reagan: I’ve heard some people say that when they first got here, they had a very easy time meeting people; I’ve heard other people say when they got here, they were so focused on the work, they didn’t get to meet as many people—</p>
<p>Olson: Oh, no, no, because we had friends from Oak Ridge who were transferred who were scientists. And people who were at work in that kind of work. So we visited with them, and they—we all had a little group, all the people that came from Oak Ridge. So we had several friends.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Let’s see. Could you describe any ways in which security or secrecy at Hanford impacted your work?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, of course. [LAUGHTER] No visiting, no coffee breaks—we worked.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Did the secrecy continue outside of work? I’ve seen in some communities that people feel that they can’t talk about the work, and that sort of gets—someone last week was describing how she sort of felt she had to be on her guard about speaking about her work. She was afraid of that. Did you feel any sort of sense like that?</p>
<p>Olson: We didn’t discuss—we did not discuss work, because we were busy with whatever we were doing—playing bridge or dancing or skiing. So there was no reason to discuss work.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Sure. When you retired from being a secretary, you mentioned you eventually got into real estate. Is that right?</p>
<p>Olson: Yes.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Was that right away, or did you have a [INAUDIBLE]</p>
<p>Olson: No, it was not. My husband died in 1974, and so I was at home. I did volunteer work for 20 years. I had no plans to go back to work, but after his death, I decided to work in real estate.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Will you tell us about your volunteer work?</p>
<p>Olson: Oh, yes, Kadlec Hospital Auxiliary, and Mid-Columbia Symphony Guild, and Girl Scouts. All types of volunteer work.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Great. What kinds of things did you do at the hospital?</p>
<p>Olson: Volunteer work. I would go down at 7:00 in the morning, and I answered the phone in one of the departments—I think it was the children’s department, that was part of what I did.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: And when you started getting into real estate, can you tell me about that?</p>
<p>Olson: Yes, yes. I took classes at CBC. I studied hard for it, and I passed the test. I started to work for a company called—let’s see—Sherwood and Roberts. They were a company that had offices in this state and California and some other state. I worked for them four years, and then I transferred to other companies.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Mm-hmm. Did that job change over time? I know the communities started expanding during that period—</p>
<p>Olson: Oh, well, yes, there was more work as the company got larger.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Could you describe any ways in which you think of the Tri-Cities as changing over the first couple of decades you lived here?</p>
<p>Olson: Well, it got larger. Larger, and they built more houses out past Winslow [LAUGHTER] Winslow Street. Well, of course it changed. There were more activities. Everybody was more—and there were people transferring in and out from large companies. There were a lot of people who came here who had worked for other companies that came here. And some had worked for General Electric or whoever the major contractor was.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Let’s see. Of course, during a lot of this era, the Cold War is going on as well. Did you feel that that was something sort of just off happening in the world, or was that something that you felt impacted your life?</p>
<p>Olson: The Cold War?</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Yeah, of course, there’s sort of this global conflict going on. There’s a lot of still building nuclear weapons, there’s thinking about use of nuclear weapons. Some people have described sort of a fear during that time, and other people have described they were happy—they went about their work and it didn’t bother them.</p>
<p>Olson: No, there was no fear to me personally. I was happy to see that the US was doing a job extremely well. I hoped it would continue to be good.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Mm-hmm. Let’s see. This is a general question. How would you like future generations to know about working at Hanford and living in Richland during the period that you lived here?</p>
<p>Olson: I think they should all be very proud of it, because it ended the war.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Right. Is there anything that you think children growing up today might not know about this period?</p>
<p>Olson: I have no idea whether they know or not.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Sure. Is there anything you think, beyond—sorry, I have to—trying to think through, just—as people have lived here for some time start thinking back on their lives in the community, how they would like people to think about the history of the local community? I guess you’ve answered that to some degree: we should be proud about the contributions of the time. I guess what I’m trying to get at is—what was different in, say, the ‘60s or the ‘70s, in living in this era than it is today? Anything come to mind?</p>
<p>Olson: I don’t think there was anything different from living in any good community or city.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: One of the local community leaders here—we understand you knew Sam Volpentest—</p>
<p>Olson: Yes.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: --who contributed a lot to the local history. Would you describe your knowledge of his impact, what he was working on when you got to work with him?</p>
<p>Olson: He was a major impact. He saved the Tri-Cities time after time after time. He made contacts in Washington, DC and he kept them. He flew back and forth frequently. Without his perseverance, the Tri-Cities would never have become as good as it had been. He kept sure that Hanford was going, which, at that time, was a main project in the Tri-Cities. And the best one producing.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: I always like to ask—what have I not asked about that I should be asking about? What else should I be asking you about?</p>
<p>Olson: Oh, I don’t know. Nothing else. [LAUGHTER] I think you asked very well, thank you.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Well, if anything comes to mind, or anything you’d like to expand upon comes to mind, we’d of course love to hear it.</p>
<p>Olson: All right, thank you.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: But otherwise, thanks so much for being here. It’s been very interesting.</p>
<p>Olson: Thank you.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: All right.</p>
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
00:19:21
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
317 kbps
Hanford Sites
Any sites on the Hanford site mentioned in the interview
200 West Area
300 Area
703 Building
B Plant
K-West Area
Years in Tri-Cities Area
Date range for the interview subject's experience in and around the Hanford site
1944-today
Years on Hanford Site
Years on the Hanford Site, if any.
1944- ~1974
Names Mentioned
Any named mentioned (with any significance) from the local community.
Wilfred "Bill" Johnson
Sam Volpentest
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Sue Olson
Description
An account of the resource
An interview with Sue Olson conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. The Hanford Oral History Project was sponsored by the Mission Support Alliance and the United States Department of Energy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hanford Oral History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
02-05-2016
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this oral history should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for this item.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Date Modified
Date on which the resource was changed.
2018-31-1: Metadata v1 created – [A.H.]
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
The Hanford Oral History Project operates under a sub-contract from Mission Support Alliance (MSA), who are the primary contractors for the US Department of Energy's curatorial services relating to the Hanford site. This oral history project became a part of the Hanford History Project in 2015, and continues to add to this US Department of Energy collection.
200 West Area
300 Area
703 Building
B Plant
Cold War
DuPont
General Electric
Hanford
K-West Area
Manhattan Project
School
Street
War
-
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Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
O' Reagan, Douglas
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Carson, David
Location
The location of the interview
Washington State University - Tri Cities
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
<p>Douglas O’Reagan: Okay. To start us off, will you please pronounce and spell your name for us?</p>
<p>David Carson: Hi. My name is David Carson, D-A-V-I-D, C-A-R-S-O-N.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Okay, thank you. My name is Douglas O’Reagan. I’m conducting an oral history interview here on April 29<sup>th</sup>, 2016. The interview is being conducted on the campus on Washington State University Tri-Cities. I’ll be speaking with Mr. Carson about his experiences working on the Hanford Site and living in the Tri-Cities community. Well, thanks for being here. Could you tell us first just a little bit about your life leading up to either moving into the Tri-Cities or starting working at Hanford?</p>
<p>Carson: I was born here in Richland at Kadlec in May of 1958. Grew up here, went through all the Richland schools—Spalding and Carmichael, and—I can still call it Col High because I went there then. Went off to college, met my wife. We were biology majors, and about the time that we graduated and were looking for jobs, Battelle, who at the time had a huge biology program, they lost most all their contracts. So that just evaporated. My wife managed to get on with Battelle a couple months after we were married. But it took me over six months before I finally got a break and got hired on at N Reactor as an operator. My--</p>
<p>O’Reagan: And that would have been ’81?</p>
<p>Carson: That was in March of 1981. My parents had moved here in the spring of 1951 with my brother and sister. I was a 16-year mistake, so they’re a lot older. But they moved here in ’51. They lived in the trailer camp up north. My brother and sister went to Ball Elementary, for example. In ’53 they were able to buy a ranch house on Cedar Street, and that’s where I grew up. My dad was a fireman. Eventually became a lieutenant and then a captain. My mom was a secretary and then executive secretary. She was one of the very first certified professional secretaries onsite, and did a great deal to spread that program and bring skills and professionalism throughout all of her parts of the work. For years, she worked here—for over 35 years, a couple years longer than my dad, actually. So I’m about as Richland-born-and-bred and Hanford-centered as you could hope to ask for. When I got hired on at N Reactor, I started—as so many people in operations did—back in the fuels department. We called it back, because it was in the back part of the building. It was both the front and the back of the process. So back there, we made up the charges of reactor fuel for charging into the reactor. After that went in, the old fuel was discharged. We also took care of that out in the storage basin. So that was—I started in late March ’81, I was in fuels for six months. I always knew that I wanted to move up into the control room. So after six months, in September of ’81, I moved up front to reactor operations, not fuels operations. Started out as—everyone was referred to sort of shorthand as paygrade. A plain reactor operator was a Grade 18. So I was a Grade 18. That’s where you begin learning the basics of the job. You learn how to take building patrol and what all the readings mean and how to take them correctly. Because you have to go around the whole building twice a shift and check on running equipment, take readings, make sure things aren’t breaking or whatever. Then you start learning more of the jobs, from housekeeping—there were some specialized parts of that. Doing laundry—there was specialized parts to that, because it was—you were dealing with radioactive clothing, so contamination control, you learn that a lot. All the different functions during charge/discharge. This was the time, in the early part of the Reagan Administration when they changed over to once again producing weapons-grade plutonium. It was called the 6% program. Weapons-grade plutonium is judged on how much plutonium-240 has grown into it. If you have more than 6%--PU-240 is a big neutron absorber, so it does not create a nuclear explosive as well. It poisons reactions. So the less of that you have, the less you have to work to separate it out and get just the PU-239 that you want. So changing to the 6% program meant that they were doing charge/discharges a little more than twice as often. Plus, a lot of the maintenance had been let go. For many years they’d been in power only, since the end of the Nixon Administration. And that was something of a coup, to let in startup just to produce electricity through the Hanford Generating Project number 1 that was run by Washington Public Power Supply System. We sent our steam to them over across the fence. We didn’t have anything to do with that, except send steam, get back water. So there was a lot of upgrades going on throughout the whole reactor plant. The reactor plant—we called it the power side, where the steam that we made as we cooled off the primary loop was used to drive turbines that drove the primary pumps that circulated the water. A lot of that equipment was also repaired, upgraded. It took a while to really get up on plane and start operating smoothly again. A lot of operators came in right around within a year or so of the time I did, and four or five reactor-operator certification classes’ worth. They would take about 15 people at a time, and you would run through about a year-long program to learn everything from fundamentals, which was basic math, basic chemistry, basic nuclear science, up through the specifics of the systems in the reactor and how they interacted, how you operated them safely, what you didn’t want to do, what you did do, the reasons behind all that. It got pretty complex. You had to take three tests to become certified. First, after the first couple sessions of classroom training, they would pull us off our shifts. We worked a four-shift rotating shift at the time. Pulled us off our shifts, put us on day shift in the classroom for chunks of time. We’d go back when there were outages, because they needed bodies. When you finished your first couple of sessions of classroom training, there was the written exam, which is called the eight-hour. And it really is. It was almost 50 pages. I finished it in about six-and-a-half hours. I used up an entire pen. Just as I was finishing writing the essay on the last page, the pen died. And I looked at it—it was clear, and there was no ink left. So after you passed your eight-hour, you got a bump. You were then called a Grade 21, and a lot more of your training was real-time in the control room. You would sit on consoles with the other operators, and they would help guide you. You’d get some hands-on time. You’d learn more about that part of the job. After several months, and some more classroom training, you had an examination called the demo, where one of the instructors would come over and they would walk you around the control room and just start asking questions. Your job was to answer the questions, point at stuff, look things up in books—prove that you knew where it all was, what it all meant, what it all did. When you passed your demo, then you went into the final, more intensive part of classroom training to get ready for your oral board. Pass the eight-hour, pass the demo, train some more, then you sat an oral board, in which there were people from operations, engineering, nuclear safety, training, and sometimes somebody else would sit in. I don’t know why, but they did. So once you passed your oral board, you were considered certified—a Grade 23. But you still didn’t get turned loose yet. You still had to have guided time in the control room. You had to do a certain number of evolutions. You had to do so many startups, so many shutdowns, be in on so many scrams, do a little of this and a little of that, until your shift manager, after watching you and talking to the other operators, figured you were ready. So then, one day they say, okay, you’re free and clear. And your certificate went up on the wall with your name on it saying that you were a certified reactor operator, and you got thrown in. And then you really started to learn the job. Because all this stuff was suddenly no longer even partially theory. It was all real.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: How many reactor operators were there at a time, roughly, who were licensed?</p>
<p>Carson: It went up and down. Each shift was required to have at least four in the control room when you were operating. Typically, during this time in the ‘80s, every shift had seven or eight certified operators, and as many as a dozen Grade 18s—the ones who didn’t want to get into the certification program, who did other stuff around the plant. Because there was always stuff to do, if nothing else—housekeeping, stocking the laundry, and sweeping the floors. We had a schedule that came up every month and you rotated through different jobs in the control room. At the N control room, there was three major parts. There was a nuclear console, where you actually ran the reactor itself. We manually controlled the rod positions and manually monitored the power level and the flux where the neutron cloud was going up or down in the reactor. You wanted to keep that still and stable. You didn’t want it to cycle, because that can get—create stresses, if one part of the reactor’s really hot while this one back here is cold, it stresses—increases the fatigue and the chances for the failure of something. So you wanted to keep it nice and steady. We had instrumentation. We had—the only computer display we had was of temperatures. That was probably the main one, and the charts that showed how the neutron flux was changing. You wanted to keep all the lines straight. There was two of you, and you rotated on the nuke console every two hours—two hours on, two hours off. You’d get breaks and stuff while you were off. The double-A console controlled all of the primary loop and its interface with the secondary loop. That’s where you controlled the drive turbine speeds that drove the primary pumps to circulate the coolant. That’s where you controlled the primary loop pressure, the level of it, the emergency backup stuff—you were responsible for that. So you had this whole corner of the control room and panels that were your responsibility. The third part controlled the secondary loop—that’s the side—the primary loop went into the tubes of heat exchangers and it boiled the water on the shell of the heat exchanger—the steam generators. So that steam went up into the steam header. A lot of it went over to WPPSS. Some of it went down to drive our turbines. We also had a turbine generator of our own in the boiler building that was our onsite power source. You took care of the secondary loop there—its level, its pressure, the way it was. There was also a lot of other things that that operator did—rupture monitoring was at that panel, because N Reactor did not have a containment; it had a confinement. It was designed in 1958, went critical in ’63. They didn’t build—I guess they couldn’t at the time yet—build a full containment to keep everything in. It was designed that if there was a tube rupture and you had a big burst of superheated steam, that would vent. So we had to keep our primary loop really, really clean. And that’s what the rupture monitor was. If you saw signs that the fuel element in one of the 1,003 process tubes was beginning to release uranium into the water, you’d shut down and push that tube right away. There was also a system specifically for cooling the graphite. N Reactor, like the other old Hanford reactors, was called graphite-moderated. It used very pure graphite in a big block with complex passages through it. The neutrons, when they would leave the fissioned uranium atom, would go out and bounce around in that graphite before they found their way back into fuel, slowed way down, so that they could cause another fission. Modern power reactors use the water, the coolant, as a moderator. We used the solid graphite. We had a system to cool that specifically. So that operator took care of that. Also, the gas system, we circulated helium through the core when we’re operating, because at full power, 4,000 megawatts thermal, the temperature in the center of the core was 600, 700, 800 degrees in places, Fahrenheit. Pure graphite—you don’t want any air or water, anything that’s going to react with it at those temperatures. So we used the helium—you had to control that, too. And there’s other miscellaneous stuff, but you had to learn all of this, and you learned all of the classroom stuff, but just like anything, you really learned by doing, where it becomes second nature. The wonderful part about working it in was my shift—I was a little unusual in that I was assigned to one shift at the beginning, C shift, and I stayed on that shift my whole nine years there. Other people would move around, sometimes involuntarily. But I managed to stay on C shift all the time. It’s such a wonder and a joy when you can become that tight of a team to where you knew exactly how any individual’s going to react in a given situation. You don’t even need full words to communicate. We would have entire conversations in acronyms and shorthand. And we—stuff happened and we would ride it out and just—scary as heck, but—when it was over, you knew that the team had just really done its work like it’s supposed to. So that was always—that was a good feeling.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Could you give us an example of one of these acronym exchanges?</p>
<p>Carson: Oh. Oh, it’s— What’s the HPIP delta P? 18. Okay, we need that up to 50. So—I’ve lost a lot of that.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Sure.</p>
<p>Carson: But as in any installation, every piece has a name. It has typically an official name that meets a standard of naming from an engineering organization, it has the name that it’s normally referred to as, and it has an acronym. Sometimes it might have an even shorter shorthand name that your crew comes up with that you all know what it is, but you also know all the others as well. In a situation where something has begun to get out of line, out of normal--it’s not a crisis, but it’s something that you have to pay attention to and deal with right away—you need to transfer information as quickly and as clearly as possible. And that was how that was done, with shorthand acronyms that everyone knew exactly what you were saying; they could anticipate what you were about to say. So you could get other people to take particular actions absolutely as quickly as possible, and they could get you, by what they said back, to do your actions properly.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Could you walk us through a one specific scram or other sort of stressful event?</p>
<p>Carson: I was there in the control room one night when—I believe it was thunderstorms hit a main distribution power line—a 230-kilovolt lines coming from the dams—that happened to be online as our offsite power. Lightning hit one of those transmission lines and caused a power surge that tripped open the breakers at the substation. Offsite power was called A bus. Onsite power was B bus. You needed them active and separated up from 13.8-kilovolt where it came into the reactor, all the way down to 12-volt DC instrument power. You couldn’t have any connection between those two, because that could conceivably cause a fault that would stop the reactor from scramming if it needed to. So they powered everything, but some things were powered more by one bus or one by another. This is one of the main things that we trained for, was a power loss. Of course, if you lose one of your electrical buses, that’s one of the automatic reactor scram trips—there was 23 of them. So the reactor scrammed, and everything’s going along about like you’d expect for a power loss from one bus. Everything’s already prepared and set up to take the proper actions automatically, so you have to monitor those and adjust as necessary. Then all of a sudden, there was some kind of electrical fault in our B bus, our onsite power, which was still online. It tripped off. It was B bus—I believe I’m saying this right—B bus powered the lights in the control room. So you knew if those lights went on, you’d lost B bus as well. Now, if you lost both buses at the same time, that was an automatic trip onto emergency cooling, which for N Reactor was very large, high-pressured diesel pumps would pump water. Valves would open at the inlet and outlet of the reactor and it would change to a once-through. We had a series of water tanks with demin[eralized] water, filtered water and sanitary water. And then through some mechanisms, it would trip all the way to river water. If it was known that if you ever tripped over onto emergency cooling, the thermal shock—because the water was kept hot, but it wasn’t as hot as the reactor—the thermal shock could basically destroy the reactor. And that would be over. Nothing you could do at that point as far as keeping the reactor as an operating reactor in the future. So luckily, A bus had actually come back online just seconds before B bus went off. Then B bus came back, so the lights came back on, and then we lost A bus again. Because the whole BPA network was still having ripples and things. And then it came back up and then we lost B bus again. So when each of these things is happening, there’s stuff you have to do, depending on what it was. We’re running back and forth, trying to do that, and it got really tense. But all that training, you stopped really thinking—just all the training in your brainstem took over and you started doing what you needed to do and communicating in just those short, almost little digital blips of information so that everyone knew what you were doing, and you knew what they were doing and you knew what everybody had to do and that they were doing it. So things got pretty terse in the control room right there. As the buses kept coming up and down, it would reset off hundreds of enunciators and we didn’t have time to try and figure out what the overall cause was; we were just still fighting to keep the reactor from tripping on to emergency cooling. So eventually, we got both buses back and stable and we could continue with our—then it became just a regular post-scram shutdown. The cool-down of the reactor, changing things to work slightly different ways here and there throughout the plant. Then you sit back and giggle and get the shakes a little bit. Everybody talked real loud and real fast for a while, you know? [LAUGHTER] So—just some stressful things like that. Any unexpected scram made you a little tense, a little puckery. Because you didn’t know what happened. We had big CRT monitors mounted up by the nuclear and the double-A console that were tied into an electronic alarm system that they would record all of the enunciators. There were—I think I heard the number once—it was 1,400 different enunciators in the control room. When one of those went off, it sent a signal to this alarm system that put the ID of them in a buffer memory. They would display up in the CRTs. Well, when you scram, you got 400 enunciators within two or three seconds. So all you could see on the screen was the first eight or so. So you didn’t know what was going on. You just had to deal with what you were supposed to do and trust that no further catastrophe was going to happen, and just be ready for it if it did. When the reactor was running smoothly, we called it at equilibrium, when we had not changed power by more than 5% in 72 hours. That was sometimes hard to keep your focus, because all the lines are running straight on the charts, and it’s graveyard, nobody wants to talk, and you’ve all told all your stories a dozen times, and nothing much to say. So you’re sitting, waiting, watching. So like the quote about war, hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Not as terror-filled as they might be, because we were trained and experienced in most stuff. Sometimes—there was always the possibility that sometimes something could happen that was really untoward, really out of the way, that could be really dangerous, really a disaster.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: How much of working in the control room was sort of judgment or sort of work of art as opposed to a sort of objective do-the-next-thing?</p>
<p>Carson: Actually quite a bit of it. One of the things that you developed as you gained experience as an operator—we called it getting stick time. When you started getting enough hours on a console and really starting to figure out how everything actually did work, you developed a feel, just from watching how all the different parts of the console you were on interacted. You got a feel if something was maybe not right, if something started looking a little jittery or a little bit out of its normal range that you wanted. Then you’d have to figure out, what little tweak can I make? Because everything was running in automatic, but you could always make small corrections. What little tweak could I make, given what I know about that that’s going on, that would make it better? And you developed what I always called a touch. Because you didn’t just go up and start twisting stuff. You really—with some instruments, some controllers—some control loops more than others—you didn’t want to put any very large change into it at all, because it was so sensitive. In the action that that controller would take, the input back to, say, the primary loop from changing the speed of one of the makeup injection pumps could just suddenly—if you did too much by accident, you could scram the reactor. Or you could cause it to lose pressure, which would scram the reactor another way. So getting to really develop that unconscious feel, similar to the way that when you’re driving and you pull into a parking lot or a real narrow street, you can actually feel with your body where the corners of your fenders are. It’s developing that kind of feel for a huge complex machine that was really what brought you into being a really good, competent operator. Some folks had it on some systems more than others. The older operators who’d been at it forever, it was just completely unconscious with them. That was just the way they did things was smooth and easy, and you don’t just jump in and start fiddling with stuff. You always think it through before you touch anything. And then when you touch it, you touch it very gently and make the changes as slow and small as you can to get the result that you want.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: So you worked there through the closing of N Reactor, is that right?</p>
<p>Carson: Yes.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: How much did that change over the course, before you got to the closing? Was it—job change a lot over that time?</p>
<p>Carson: While we were still operating—regular operation—it didn’t change that much. Some new things were put in, but overall they didn’t really affect us much. You had to deal with failures. For example, when the reactor was operating, the water circulated through five steam generator cells. We had six, so one was always out of service for maintenance or repairs or whatever, and you operated with five. Well, one of the cells was undergoing a total refit—a total reconditioning. And then another one of the cells, the primary pump developed some problems that were going to require a rebuild. So the decision was made to go ahead and operate at a reduced power level with only four cells online. That took a lot of adjustments. They had to come up with temporary limits that we had to learn and follow. Some of the procedures changed slightly for that temporary period to take into account the fact that you had a lower capacity and a lower rate of heat removal. So just dealing with a change like that, and then that begins to feel normal. And then they bring another cell back online. So you’re back to the way it was that used to be normal, but you have to kind of reset yourself to working that way. Limits were really the main thing we paid attention to as we were operating. All of the nuclear industry—and N Reactor, certainly, they really drilled this into us—it operates in defense of depth. You don’t ever have just a single barrier to something causing an accident. I called it a box-in-a-box-in-a-box-in-a-box-in-a-box. There’s the actual strength of the machine, at what pressures or temperatures will it break because the materials just physically can’t take it. So that’s your outermost limit that you never, ever, ever got close to. Inside of that was your technical specifications that protected this outer box. Inside the technical specifications were the process standards that protected the technical specification limits. Inside the process standards were your operating limits that protect—you never wanted to break a process standard, because you’d have to have an investigation and figure out why that happened and everything. And sometimes there were even special limits inside the operating limits that were even more restrictive. So those limits changed over time, but that was just part of the job. You had to get used to the new ways things were, and just live with it, because that’s the way it was. They taught us why the change was made, and what it meant, and that this was the new limits here and here and here. That’s the kind of stuff we went through during our continuous training. After you’re certified, the training cycle had all the operators, shift by shift, when they would roll around on dayshift, you would have training days. And every two years, you went through the entire certification curriculum again, from fundamentals through reactor operations, through system interactions—all of it, every two years. We had to take a recertification exam every quarter. So every three months you had a job jeopardy examination to keep on top of stuff. So that’s how all that was communicated to us and incorporated into the way we worked and the way things were operated and handled. As we got past the Chernobyl accident, some people knew right away, that was the death knell for N. A lot of us were still optimistic that the differences were so clear and plain and could be explained, and we could continue. They had plans for upgrading some of our equipment to allow the reactor to run for another 20 years, they said. [SIGH] Didn’t turn out that way. So much political fire came down on all of the DoE complex, but Hanford especially. I don’t know if you remember, at the time, we had a senator who was 100% anti-Hanford. I spoke at the time when South Carolina had three senators and we had one. Because he worked as hard as he could to send all the work, all the waste, all the everything to Savannah River, so that it wouldn’t be at Hanford. I’m just griping now, but—it ended up, it was January 7<sup>th</sup>, 1997 at 07:31 that the reactor was shut down for the last time. It was going to be for an upgrade. They were going to put in a control room habitability system that did actually get put in, and it worked. It was for a time if there was ever a large release from the reactor, we could have sealed up the control room and lived on recirculated air and supplies for up to two weeks. They put that in. There was another big upgrade. Because of the hydrogen bubble that developed inside the reactor at Three Mile Island from water being split by high temperatures and the presence of metal into hydrogen and oxygen. And the hydrogen formed a big bubble that could have—in very, very small circumstances—could have ignited or exploded. They were worried about hydrogen inside the reactor and power buildings at N. So they were putting in a hydrogen mitigation system that would have been able to take all of the hydrogen evolved from the entire quantity of water in the primary loop. If it all split and turned into hydrogen and oxygen, this system could have recombined the hydrogen and taken away the explosive potential. So we all hoped that, yeah, we were going to get these upgrades and we’d be able to start up again and keep going for a while longer. But we never did. So the people who could leave right away did. But the end of ’97, we’d lost a lot of the real sharp engineers and some of the top people in operations. And then as the years went on, and became more and more clear that there was no future for the reactor, more and more people drifted away. I eventually, in late ’89, I took a temporary upgrade to write layup procedures for the reactor. At the time, they were going to keep it in—well, it went through a whole series. It was going to be on cold standby, where the fuel would still be in the reactor; we would still recirculate the loop, but we wouldn’t operate. We would just maintain it ready to operate if we needed it. Then it was going to turn to dry standby, where the reactor would be defueled and we would circulate dry pure air through all of the piping throughout the plant to keep the corrosion away so that if we needed to restart, we could refuel and restart. So that was one of the big procedures that I took the upgrade to write, was the whole valve lineup to establish that flow path from the 24-inch primary and secondary loop main valves, all the way down to the ¼ inch instrument root valves. I had to find every single one and lay out how they were going to be opened, in what sequence. I also wrote a bunch of other procedures. That’s where I first started learning how to write procedures. But at the end of the six months, they did not want to keep me on there permanent, doing that. And I sure didn’t want to go back to operations, which was by that time two years after the reactor had been shut down, almost three. I could just feel the IQ dribble out my ears, because you can only sweep the same floor so many times. Once the reactor was defueled, there wasn’t a whole lot of anything to do.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: How many people were still on doing that kind of work?</p>
<p>Carson: Probably about half the number that we’d had at the peak days. Because you didn’t need as many operators to do what we were doing. So people were going to various places. A lot of people went from there over to the K Basins, to deal with the stored fuel. Some of them are still there, dealing, now, just with the sludge. It just—there was no sense in trying to stay there where I was comfortable. So that’s when I got a job with Tank Farms, writing procedures. So I did that for four years.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Was that something that you actively thought—you enjoyed the procedure writing, or was that just another--?</p>
<p>Carson: Actually, yes. I’ve always loved writing. For a long time, I desperately wanted to be a writer, a fiction writer or a science writer. And I just never was able to do it. I got a small number of rejection letters from various magazines. Once I started writing for a living, doing procedures, it just knocked all hope of ever writing fiction right out of me. But I enjoyed the process; I’ve always enjoyed figuring stuff out. When I came to Tank Farms, the procedures were horrible. There are standards and—even at that time, it was just coming out of DoE order on how the qualities of procedure has to have—the requirements that it has to meet, in terms of how it’s written, how the data is presented, how things are phrased. So when I came into Tank Farm Procedures, once I got my feet on the ground, I kind of pushed, and we did a complete overhaul of the entire Tank Farms Procedures system. Getting all of the several hundred—I think 740 procedures—getting them all rewritten to current standards. I developed, for the first time at Tank Farms, a standard compliant alarm response procedure. There’s procedures for everything, including when—I talked about all the enunciators in the control room. We had big, thick books of enunciator response guides that told you what tripped it, when it would reset, what it meant, and what you had to do. When 500 go off at once, you’re just doing your trained-in post-scram actions that you know what to do. You don’t look at each individual one. At Tank Farms, they had alarm response procedures, but for a whole facility, the book might be this thick, because anything that happened, the only response was notify management. It was quite a culture shock to go down to Tank Farms, because at N, you needed a college degree of some kind just to get in the door. It was a really fast crowd. Really smart. Even the guys that stayed back in fuels, most of them were really sharp. So we operated at a really high level, had a really high level of in-depth training. Tank Farms, not so much. So I had to get over that culture shock, and then begin to teach the folks that I was writing these procedures for why they’re changing, and what it meant for them, and why it was better to do it this way. So eventually, we did. We were the first group to use electronic photography in procedures. We were the first group to have all of our procedures computerized. And we worked hard and it came out really well. I learned that I really enjoy that process of figuring things out and then of using my writing skills to convey that in the best way possible. I really enjoyed that. After four years at Tank Farms Procedures, a new facility was being built, the 200 Area Effluent Treatment Facility. So I transferred from Tank Farms to the ETF. In part, because they had stuck in a manager that no one got along with. The man was not very—ahem—socially apt. We’ll just leave it at that. I went over to ETF and started developing their procedures as the facility was still being built. That’s where I got laid off. 1995, there was a big layoff by Westinghouse. I got the boot there. So for the next two years—it took me six months to get any kind of job again. And then I was—Fluor Hanford had come in—Fluor Daniels. They had their own built-in temporary company to supply temporary work. So I bounced in and out with that temporary company several times on the canister storage building, a little bit at Tank Farms. And then finally the head of Fluor Northwest just said, we’re done with all these temporary people, because it’s too hard to deal with the temporary company. Just hire them all in. So ’97, I got hired in. And then I got made over into a nuclear safety hazard analyst. That has been my main bread and butter. Hazard analysis, which is a very specific discipline in the nuclear industry, working on safety basis documents, which is the—safety basis defines what you can do and how you can do it, and what you can and can’t do. So the nuclear safety people developed that, the customer—DoE RL—approves it, and that’s what you live by. So we—first we draw the coloring book, then we make sure that everyone colors inside the lines. That’s nuclear safety’s job. Hazard analysis is a part of that, because before you do anything new, or if you’re going to change anything that you’re doing that’s approved now, you have to have a very deliberate process of analyzing all the hazards, figuring out how bad the hazard is, what it could cause, how bad that effect could be—if it’s a real accident or if it’s a no, never mind, that’s already covered by other controls, do the new analysis you need to do, create new controls for it, and get those instituted so that everything is still inside the box.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: When you were working on the Tank Farms, do you think those procedures were just left over from a time when people just didn’t care as much about—</p>
<p>Carson: Yes. Very much so. I guess I skipped ahead. I talked about the culture shock moving to Tank Farms. At N, we had great training, we had really good procedures that were very well thought out and well developed and well proved. We had a deep understanding of all of our limits, why they were there, what it meant if you violated one in a certain way. All that was just ingrained to us. So you did things by the procedure, you lived inside the limits, you knew why, you knew how. There was no problem. Everybody just worked that way. Tank Farms had for years been kind of a dumping ground of the people who couldn’t make it elsewhere. The only lower step was the laundry. And I worked a little bit with some tank farm operators that, shortly after I got there, got transferred to the laundry because they couldn’t make it at Tank Farms. The whole organizational philosophy was the smart guys know what they’re doing, just shut up and do what they tell you, even if it isn’t written down. Don’t worry about that, that’s just for show. Their procedures were—in one case, it was a page-long paragraph that was one sentence. I don’t think it even had a verb. It was like telling a story, and didn’t have any specifics. Nobody understood them. They all hated them, because they were all like that. We changed that; we made it better. The culture shock was coming from a place like N, where, like I said, we were a fast crowd, we were really dialed in, we really knew what was what, to Tank Farms, where there were still people working there—great operators, they really knew their job, they knew what to do—but they couldn’t read. They had a special dispensation to have their requal exams every year orally. Because they couldn’t read. They couldn’t read valve tags. So people would go out with them and tell them what was what. They knew exactly what to do; they were good operators. But that kind of difference in level really caught me short for a while. It took me a while to change my mind to realize that—okay, they want to do a good job, too, no matter how cranky they seem. So don’t look down on them, don’t ride a high horse. Just—they’re people like you, let them to do the job. And it worked out, it did. I made some friends there and we did some good stuff. I helped a lot of them out where I could, explaining things. I think I’ve forgotten what the question was. [LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>O’Reagan: I was just sort of exploring this different or maybe changing priorities about the environment or waste control over time and over different parts of Hanford. It seems like they’re—</p>
<p>Carson: Oh, yeah, okay.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: We’re really interested in safety and such at N Reactor and having these great procedures, but maybe the less sexy parts of it were not as fully developed yet.</p>
<p>Carson: Yeah. This is an example I think that illustrates that. We were among the first to really start taking control of our low-level waste. Every place you come out of a zone, there’s what’s called a step-off pad, where you undress in sequence. You take the outermost stuff off, and you step on one pad, then you take the inner stuff off and step on the next one, so that you’re leaving all of the contamination behind. There were rad boxes sitting there, and so for things like your tape and your surgeon’s gloves, would all get thrown in the rad box. That’s what most of our low-level waste was. That kind of stuff. Nobody used to pay much attention to it; it was just something that you toted down to this room, and then you threw it on a truck and somebody took it somewhere and threw it away. They really started working at following the latest directions for how to properly deal with and account for all of the waste: low-level, higher level waste—anything. Getting the accountability, getting the proper labeling, understanding the proper limits for what could be certain types of waste. We really had that ground into us. And we really griped about it, because we were filling out data sheets and filling out labels and other labels and other labels and double and triple wrapping the boxes and labeling the wrappings as we put them on, and doing all this stuff. The one time I ever had to go down to the burial ground—it’s funny, some jobs some people would catch all the time. You might be there for years and there was things you never got to do because you were never assigned to do them. One of those was taking our low-level waste boxes to the burial ground and throwing them out of the truck into the trench. So we had spent all this time doing all this accounting, doing all this labeling, making sure the packaging was all okay and everything was very carefully set up and everything. And we get to the disposal trench in 200 West Area. So we’re carefully—you’re not supposed to damage the box—it’s a cardboard box inside of a couple plastic bags. You’re not supposed to damage it. We’re just taking them and dropping them over the side out of the back of a truck. And here comes a truck from somewhere in West Area, one of the construction things going on or something. A dump truck with wood and broken plaster and glass and a few rad boxes and stuff. They just wave him up there, and the dump truck backs up and just—pbbt—dumps, and drives away. No paperwork, no nothing. I don’t know what was behind it; maybe there were reasons it was like that. But that was just a contrast that really griped me. But they did a good job at N of explaining why the way we were doing things had to change. Why the new way was actually better, what it meant for stopping releases to the environment, reducing them. Things you should do to lower your impact, lower the amount of waste. That’s where I first really started getting it, and it slowly moved into other places so that things were much more accounted for and controlled. These days, it’s very controlled, it’s very different. It’s much more secure. Nobody uses those rad boxes anymore. The only place I ever see them is in rad update training every year. Everything’s in certified drums. It’s treated certain ways. It’s all measured and accounted for, and inspected before it goes to its final burial to make sure that there is nothing in there that isn’t supposed to be. There’s a whole entire facility in West Area that’s devoted to doing that. Waste Receipt And Processing, WRAP. They get in drums of waste from all over the site, and they do NDA on them to find out how radioactive they are and what kind of radioactive stuff is in them. They X-ray them. If necessary, they will open them up, take everything out, sort it out, so that the stuff that isn’t supposed to be there is out, and then repackage them properly. So everything is very concentrated on making sure that any waste products, whether radioactive or chemical or even domestic waste, is handled and treated properly. And that has really exhibited a standard growth curve. Because when I first started in the ‘80s, there was a lot of resistance, both kind of social and institutional, and among the groups. But the people who understood it just kept pushing, kept pushing, kept getting the message out. Gradually, you saw the same kind of acceptance go up like that, like a normal growth curve. That’s just the way things are done now. So that part’s a lot better. I never really experienced any untoward activities. We were never told to go dump stuff in a hidden place. We were never told to dispose of something in an unapproved way. But a lot of the stuff that we were around wasn’t as controlled or properly packaged or set up as it would be today. That’s all to the good. You used to be able to go just about everywhere and there would be contaminated patches. A lot of those have been cleaned up. People no longer are allowed to just stick something out here and just put a rope around it and call it an accumulation area. There’s very high degree of control and accountability. The job I’m in now with Central Plateau Surveillance and Maintenance, they have a responsibility for all the old retired facilities, the old canyon buildings. And there’s a lot of auxiliary buildings around those and a lot of waste sites and old cribs and trenches. Most of what they do is repeatedly inspecting all that stuff, making sure that anything that’s present is properly in place, that it’s allowed to be there, that they know what it is, that nothing’s going wrong. So that’s all really a lot better. In all of society and all of industry, things are much safer now. People understand chemical hazards especially. We used to be able to go get stuff out of the tool crib that isn’t even allowed to be sold anymore, because it’s carcinogenic. But there, it was an electric cleaner called Swish that was mostly carbon tetrachloride. And you could just get a spray can of it and go and clean things off with it, or kill spiders. [LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>O’Reagan: So I’d love to come back to this, but just to make sure we get to it before we run too long on time, could we step back to your childhood in Richland--</p>
<p>Carson: Sure.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: --and what it was like growing up in Richland? Could you tell us a bit about that?</p>
<p>Carson: Well. Virtually everyone I know, their folks worked in the Area. They never talked about what went on what there or what they did. My dad talked about some fire department stuff sometimes.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Was that the fire department on the site or just—</p>
<p>Carson: The Hanford Fire Department, yeah. Nobody ever really knew what was going on out there. The closed-mouth, closed-city—you know. I always thought it was amazing. Very early in the morning, my mom would drive me to a baby-sitter down in south Richland. And I always thought it was amazing, she could look out to the northwest and she would tell me which plant was running. I didn’t know they were reactors; I didn’t know what it meant. But she could look at the steam plumes, because even though they weren’t modern reactors with cooling towers, they still had retention ponds before the water went back in the river, and those would steam. She could just look at tell me which plant was running. And I always thought that was amazing. We had a fairly—at least in my experience anyway, as a middle class, my folks were both working, lived in a nice neighborhood up near Spalding School. We had a very safe, nice environment to grow up in, a good childhood. Just a lot of playing in the street, going over and playing in the playgrounds. You go to school, you have all your friends there, and you go do stuff. Not a lot different than most places, but—I loved then, and I still do, and unless you grow up in a place like here, you don’t get the chance to just walk in the desert, way away from anything where it’s really quiet, and you got all the sagebrush that just smells so good. And you just walk way out there somewhere, and no trees around, and just sky and desert and total silence. That’s something you really only get growing up here and somewhere very like this. Everybody knew about the Area, but never talked about it. I do remember, I was in first grade, I believe, when the Mobile Whole Body Counter came to Spalding. They gave us some tours of it, and they said that some people were going to get to go through it after school. Well, I thought it would be really neat. I think what they were probably doing was running some of the teachers through it, just as environmental sampling, really. This was in—this would have been ’64, around there. About ten years after the Green Run, when there weren’t huge releases like that, but there were still some releases going on, a lot of monitoring. I waited around after school for an hour, hoping to get to run through this. They would bring people in and 20 minutes later they’d come out. I got in trouble because I was so late walking back to my babysitter’s after school because of that. But where else is something like that going to happen? The Hanford Science Center was a pretty special place. To us, it was like just an everyday thing—doesn’t everyone have a neat science museum like this? But, no, they don’t. It was no longer—I was born in 1958. So the city was no longer run by GE. But there were still people—and they were still indulged by the city government—who, if a light bulb went out, they would call up the way that they used to call GE up to come and change it. For a while, that still kind of went on, somehow. I remember the air raid siren tests. On the last—in the last week of the month, I don’t remember what day it always was. But I always remember getting kind of scared about that. There’s nothing like that sound of—Richland had three, then two, then one—of air raid sirens going off. And at that age—eight, nine—I was starting to realize what that meant. That if that ever went off for real, it was all over. It was a big deal, a really big deal, to have to go to Kennewick or Pasco, because there was only the Blue Bridge, which wasn’t the Blue Bridge then. It was green and it was called the New Bridge. And then there was that horrible frightening old green bridge that was taken out. So if you had to go to Pasco, you had to go to and through Kennewick, and then go over one of those bridges. The highway between Richland and Kennewick was—I can still remember when it was just one lane each way. There was actually a stop light at George Washington Way, because the highway came in and curved and there was a stop light at G Way before it went up to the bypass part. Right there at that intersection is where the Rose Bowl was. Everybody knew the Rose Bowl, the sewage treatment plant. Great way to be introduced to a town when you’re first coming into it. As far as I know, it was a fairly normal childhood. My friends and I, we did all the normal things. When the hydroplane races started, there was a couple weeks in the summer where all anybody wanted to do was play hydroplanes. So everybody would have their own little scraps of wood they made into a hydroplane, and you’d drag it behind your bike in the street. Or turn on a hose and set it in the gutter and go make a dam to make a big puddle you could run it through like a boat. Day sleeper signs. Everybody—almost everybody worked a rotating shift—ABCD, where you rotate, at the time, from swing shift to days to graveyard<a>[EM1]</a> . My dad worked a rotating shift for 17 years. Once I started it, I understood how bad it had been for him when I was young, when I was little. But you’d walk around, and in the windows, in houses, “day sleeper.” You just understood that probably most of your friends were going to live in a house just like yours if you lived in one of the Alphabet House districts. A lot of my friends had the same or very slightly different models of ranch house all up in that area. So you knew exactly where the bathroom was, you knew where the kitchen was, you knew where the light switches were, because they were all the same. That’s probably somewhat different. There were virtually no African Americans in Richland. In elementary school, I think there was two—there was a boy my age, and his sister who was a little younger. Caused me some problems, because he slapped me around one day after school, and that affected my attitude for a long time. But because there were almost no black people in Richland, I had no idea what they were like or anything. My parents, a lot of their friends were conventionally racist at the time—it would be very racist now. But at the time it was just conventional. And because there were so few of them, they all knew each other because they had their own community that they would get together. I just thought that it was natural that every black person in the world knew every other one. Because they would always say, hi, how are you, and talk to each other like they knew each other. I thought that was normal. So I don’t know how common that is across all of the US, but it was certainly true here. Because Kennewick was a restricted city, Richland was mostly a city for somewhat upper level workers at Hanford, Pasco—East Pasco was where most of the African American people and the Hispanic immigrants went. It was always used as a term of horror—oh my god, we have to go by East Pasco. I’ve been there, now. It’s people with houses and neighborhoods and kids and dogs. At the time, it was just hell to be—this horrible thing. So I just—I grew up with that. Everybody knew the same things about everything, and believed the same way. That was really about it.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Was going to college when you first sort of left this bubble, if you will?</p>
<p>Carson: Yeah. I went to Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, which—I grew up in the Lutheran Church. Really white. Going to PLU wasn’t really all that far outside the bubble. There was a little bit, because there was a very large contingent of Taiwanese kids going to school there. I tried to be all friendly and stuff—it was my first experience with the fact that other people can dislike you, too. So that was a problem. But that was—it was a good experience. It was being away from here, seeing some different things, the way different people lived. Met my wife. So that was a really good thing. But at the time, even though growing up here, I still didn’t really know a lot about Hanford or the nuclear industry, I knew a little more than when I was a kid—but not really that much. So I had no real good arguments or rebuttals for the people who—there in the mid ‘70s were already rabidly, no nukes, no nukes. Get rid of Hanford. Clean it up and throw it away. So that was kind of frustrating. There was one thing I was glad when I got hired on out here, I finally had a chance to learn all this stuff. Other stuff growing up here really is just things based on being here in this area. The place to go if you were going to go ride motorcycles or shoot your bow and arrow or pellet guns or whatever, you went down behind the cemetery along the Yakima River in Richland.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Oh yeah.</p>
<p>Carson: Later on that became a place to go when people would go have keggers or wanted to go smoke or make out or whatever, that was a popular place. I never got invited to do any of those things, so I was only ever down there with my motorcycle. I do remember, as I moved into high school, I started to understand the feeling of isolation that Richland had. Because we had been not really a closed, secret city like a lot of the ones in the Soviet Union were, but just like a cloak of invisibility over all we did here. Nobody ever really knew much about us. I was there when Richard Nixon flew in to authorize Fast Flux Test Facility. He had flown into Walla Walla on Air Force One, because at the time to the Pasco airport couldn’t service a plane that large. And then took the Air Force One helicopter and they landed in front of the PNL sandcastle and chopped down a couple trees. I’ll always remember that, because it came down and just—limbs were flying all over the place. He stood—something you wouldn’t see anymore. He was all by himself. He didn’t have a retinue behind him, around him. The Secret Service was sort of out there, but they weren’t really a visible presence. He just went and stood on the steps and addressed people and talked about stuff and announced FFTF and what was going to go on and everything. That night on the CBS News, Walter Cronkite talked about how Richard Nixon made a stop in Walla Walla and then flew to Alaska to meet with the Japanese emperor. It was his first trip to the United States since World War II. Mentioned nothing at all about what happened here, which was really far more important than a very minor diplomatic meeting that lasted two hours or something. I then did start thinking about, and I noticed a lot of that isolation. People around here just got used to never being paid attention to, to never having anyone know where they were or what went on here. So a lot of worlds kind of shrunk down to just here. You just—your church, your softball league, your friends, the hydroplane races, and that was the extent of life. So I am glad that things have really expanded out and the diversification that first started being talked about in the ‘70s has really taken hold, and so much more is done here now than just relying, almost 100%, on money from Hanford. I think if there was another bust—another one of the endless boom and bust cycles that Hanford has had over the years—if there was another big bust at Hanford, I think the Tri-Cities could probably pull through it—Tri-Cities and surrounding areas—could pull through it really very well.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Mm-hmm.</p>
<p>Carson: So that’s a big difference from growing up here, is the fact that now we’re somebody. We’re a known quantity, we’re actually a desired destination for many different reasons. We’re known for many different things. Not just, oh, all that secret stuff that nobody knows about.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: I understand you volunteered at the CREHST Museum for a while. What was important to you about the history of the area that got you to do that?</p>
<p>Carson: The fact that I was—that was in the six months that I was first laid off. I was trying to get contract writer work. That necessitated my becoming a business and getting a business license. So I ended up starting my own little computer consulting business. Because I did that, I heard from a friend of a friend who worked at CREHST that they were having computer problems. So I went down and I volunteered. I said, hey, I’ll be glad to come through and try and clean stuff and help you. And then in talking with the director, Gwen Leth—she started asking questions and found out all the other stuff I could do. So she really wanted me, and so I started working there at CREHST. They were fairly newly open, and I rewrote some of the displays, because they were not well-written. They had errors and they weren’t interesting. So I did that. I wrote an article for a magazine about CREHST—by request—that never got published. I helped with the computers, helped with some of their equipment. I just did stuff for Gwen. I was the publisher of their paper newsletter for several years. They would send me this stuff to do, and I’d put it all together into desktop publishing and did that. So that was fun, they were great people. I learned a lot about community education and what it meant and what it could be. I got to see all the neat behind-the-scenes stuff that is always the coolest thing about anything. The people there were just so wonderful that when I went back to work, I still kept in touch doing things like the newsletter, and then when I got laid off again, I would just go down and start back down there. Volunteer sometimes 40 hours a week, sometimes just a couple days. Whatever was happening that I could do, depending on what was going on with my daughter and stuff like that. So I had desperately missed the Hanford Science Center. I talked about that earlier, that it was such a great place to go, especially as I learned more and then could see more of what was actually being told me at the science center. But then when it closed down, I desperately missed having that there. Because I wanted to take my daughter to it, I wanted to keep doing it. I had volunteered to do some stuff at the science center, just before it closed when it was still in the Federal Building. So being able to help resurrect a lot of that, keep it going there at CREHST, and even provide input on what they were going to show next and things. And seeing how all of that was coming together and the efforts that they made to really reach out to the community and continue the education and the keeping the history. And keeping the artifacts alive and just being able to go in there and wander through anytime I wanted was just really great. And the REACH center is a fabulous, wonderful place. But at the time I was working at CREHST, CREHST was still going to be the lead, and they had plans for a facility about the same size down on Columbia Point that the REACH part of it was going to be a small part of the CREHST Museum. Turned out the other way. But CREHST—even just the efforts that people made to make it come about, the people that got together behind the scenes and worked with DoE, worked with the community to get funding, worked just to make things happen like moving the building of the FFTF Visitors Center from out there down to where it is now. That’s what that building is. The below-stairs part was new, but the superstructure is the old FF Visitors Center. So getting that to happen was not simple, was not easy, wasn’t cheap. But they kept at it and they did it. So that kind of dedication inspired me to do more along that line, like this.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Okay. Well there are always questions I don’t know to ask. Interesting incidents, or themes you wanted to talk about or anything like that that comes to mind that you thought might be worth mentioning.</p>
<p>Carson: In terms of work, or in terms of growing up here, or just anything?</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Either or both.</p>
<p>Carson: One of the things I did at N Reactor was I became one of the designated evacuation bus drivers. At the time, because facilities were manned around the clock, and it was 43-and-a-half miles from my driveway to the N Reactor parking lot—a long ways out there—you had to have some way to evacuate everyone that was there, in case there was an actual big accident. On regular dayshift, all of the buses that brought everybody from town were all there. But there were, parked off on the side, a couple of the old, old buses that were there strictly to be evacuation buses. They didn’t have enough drivers to have one on every shift to make sure that was covered, so they just enlisted operators. We got special training in how to drive the old buses and stuff. So on weekend dayshifts or sometimes on swing shift, and even on graveyard a few times, if everything, all the work was caught up, there was nothing going on, we would go out and practice driving. Just drive around all over. So I got to see a lot of the Area that’s really not terrifically accessible now. Because, man, those buses will go a lot of places. They love a gravel road. Drove all over, saw the Hanford Bank. Drove down, found the big boat ramp between F Area and H Area where the Hanford patrol would put their tactical boat in and out, and also where a lot of bald eagles like to hang out in the winter. Drove out to—way out by Vernita Bridge to the old warehouse, the stone warehouse that’s out there—drove out there, and drove around that. Got out and looked at it. At the time, they still had part of the old highway, the old two-road highway that led down the valley and over to Hanford and White Bluffs and serviced all the farms and everything around there. We drove on this dirt road around B Area, and then all of the sudden, here’s a beautiful paved road where the lines are bright and clear and the pavement is not cracked. So we just kept on driving. That was an exciting find.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Were these evacuation plans pretty well founded already when you got there?</p>
<p>Carson: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you had—in case of an emergency, you had an assignment to come and grab an emergency response card. There were holders of these in the control room. Everybody was supposed to go run in there and grab one and do what it said. Just one thing, whether it was shutting down some equipment, or going and closing something up, or something. You go and do that job, come back, if you’re done then you go and get on the evacuation bus and it will leave when everybody’s accounted for. So the whole evacuation thing had been practiced and set in place for years and years. Luckily we never had to do it, except in a drill. Oh. One of the funny things—one of the first times, it was just us three or four operators going out for a practice drive without the instructor or anything. It was a really hot summer’s day on the weekend. Those buses didn’t have air conditioning. [LAUGHTER] They did have eyebrow vents—one above the driver and one above the door. And we’re driving along and all the windows are open and it’s just too hot. So one of the other guys on my shift, operator, he gets up and he says, I’m going to open these vents. And he reaches up—I was driving—and he reached up above me and opened that one. Air started coming in. And all of the sudden—he opens this one—and there was a big bird’s nest inside that vent. And the way he was, he pulled it and it went right in his face. [LAUGHTER] There was just this explosion of straw and feathers and dried bird poop and stuff. We all tried really hard not to laugh at him, but—[LAUGHTER] he even laughed at himself, so. That was another thing. I remember when Uptown sat kind of alone. There wasn’t really anything built up around it yet. The big Mormon church had been built across the street, but there was nothing else out around it. And over now where that Exxon station and the Fire & Water store and the restaurant and where Hastings is, none of that was there. There was a couple of old wooden shacks. No idea what they were. But one night, it was a fall night, and we went because my dad was there as part of the fire department. There was some kind of—I don’t know—maybe a fire prevention week celebration or something. They were going to burn the shacks down to show what it looks like when the fire department puts out a fire. So my dad was part of that. And there were hundreds and hundreds of people standing in the Uptown parking lot, watching as they set these two shacks on fire. They let them burn for quite a long time, then they came out and put them out, and there was a lot of ooh, ahh. That’s a fairly early thing. One thing that happened through the ‘60s that I took for granted and then didn’t realize when it stopped until several years later—there were all kinds of traveling exhibitions that did come through here from NASA or the Army or the Navy or the Air Force. They would come and bring an exhibit and set up like in the Uptown parking lot or somewhere. They would be there for a day or two and give their spiel and you could go into their trailers and see what they had. Then they would pack up and move on to somewhere else. There were a lot of those. One that I wish I would have done, but at the time I didn’t think it was important—the X-37 Dyna-Soar—it was a first lifting body design for a recovery vehicle, or an early design for a space shuttle in the ‘60s—to go right around the Gemini program. It was eventually going to become a part of the Army’s or Air Force’s manned space laboratory program that never got off the ground. And they brought the vehicle around on a big trailer with a little trailer museum to talk about it and stuff, and I wish I would have gone to see that. But I was too busy doing something else that I thought was more important. So all kinds of stuff like that would come through. There was always—Griggs brought in a lot of these little, cheap tawdry little traveling exhibits and things. Bonnie and Clyde’s death car showed up there on a trailer when I was a kid. Right after the movie had come out and I was just really fascinated by the whole gangster thing. So of course I made my mom and dad go all the way over to Pasco to Griggs to see that. One I felt bad about then and I still feel bad—they had a dolphin that was in like a ten-foot above ground swimming pool, just barely moving. You paid $0.50 to see that, and I just felt bad. And just the kind of stuff that doesn’t really happen anymore. There was a lot of that still. Because the Tri-Cities, I think, moved into the ‘60s a little more slowly than other places.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Well, this has all been fascinating. I know our battery starts running out around this point.</p>
<p>Carson: Okay.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: So I guess we’ll have to wrap up now. But it really has been great.</p>
<p>Carson: Great.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: So thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Carson: You’re very, very welcome, and I would be happy to come back and talk more about other things. Anything you’d like to ask questions about.</p>
<p>O’Reagan: Fantastic, thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Carson: Great. Thank you.</p>
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<p> <a>[EM1]</a></p>
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Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
01:35:12
Bit Rate/Frequency
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248 kbps
Hanford Sites
Any sites on the Hanford site mentioned in the interview
N Reactor
200 Area
200 West Area
F Area
H Area
B Area
Years in Tri-Cities Area
Date range for the interview subject's experience in and around the Hanford site
1958-2016
Years on Hanford Site
Years on the Hanford Site, if any.
1981-1997
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with David Carson
Creator
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Hanford Oral History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities
Subject
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Richland (Wash.)
Hanford (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Hanford Reach (Wash.)
Hanford Nuclear Site (Wash.)
Nuclear waste disposal
Date
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2016-4-29
Rights
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Those interested in reproducing part or all of this oral history should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for this item.
Date Modified
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2016-07-29: Metadata v1 created – [RG]
Description
An account of the resource
An interview with David Carson conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. The Hanford Oral History Project was sponsored by the Mission Support Alliance and the United States Department of Energy.
200 Area
200 West Area
B Area
Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
Effluent Treatment Facility
F Area
H Area
K-Basins
N Reactor
Richland (Wash.)
Secrecy
Washington Public Power Supply System (WOOPS)
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f3dfb8cfffc8a88f464ad65796b1208b
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/omeka-hhp%2Foriginal%2F2f0d6a8c9fc260c9cd52ec998cdd8d60.mp4
c73deb8f268f89a07d4b7cfe5cc47900
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Douglas O’Reagan</span>: Okay. Well, thanks for being here, first of all. To start off, would you please pronounce and spell your name for us?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Sue Olson</span>: Sue, S-U-E. Olson, O-L-S-O-N.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Okay, thank you. And I a</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">m Douglas O’Reagan. I’m conducting an oral interview here as part of the Hanford</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> Oral</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> History Project. It’s February 5</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX15306174">th</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">, 2016. This interview is being conducted on the campus of Washington State University Tri-Cities. So just to get us started, would you please tell us something about your life before you came to Hanford? Where you were growing up and so on.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: I was born in Claude,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> Texas. I graduated from Panhandle </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">High School as valedictorian in my class. I went </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">to Texas Woman’s University in D</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">enton, Texas. T</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">hen went to University of Texas in</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> Austin, Texas. I was—[COUGH] Excuse me. I was in college</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> in an accounting class at the U</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">niversity of Texas in Austin when World War II was declared. I he</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ard the President declare</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> World War II. So at the end of that year, I took a civil service test as clerk typist and I started working for </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">US Corps of Engineers. I first</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> work</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ed</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> at Pantex Ordnance Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and I had to transfer to Tyler, Texas to an army replacement training. And then after that, I received a teletype that I was to enter in for Hanford. We had received a teletype from a lady who had transferred up here, and she had said, don’t come here. It’s rattlesnakes, sagebrush, and dust storms. [LAUGHTER] So I transferred to </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">the Manhattan Project in Oak Rid</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ge, Tennessee. And Manhattan Project had three areas—I worked for the army major who was in charge of one of the areas there. DuPont was the contractor there. And at Oak Ridge, I met R</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">obert Olson, who was with me</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> at DuPont. Before I met him, he worked at the University of Chicago to work on</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> the</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> Manhattan Pr</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">oject—he worked on at the Univers</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ity. And he transferred to Oak Ridge; I met him there. We were married there, and then we transferred to Hanford, with DuPont. We arrived here October 1</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX15306174">st</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">, 1944.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: What sort of work did you do at Oak Ridge?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> he and I were at DuPont getting ready to work. The work on the Manhattan Project was to develop the bomb. That was what it was for. And he worked at Oak Ridge.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Do you know what sort of—was he working in chemicals or physics? Do you know what sort of work he was doing there?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: No, because it was all secret.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: I see. And did you say you were also working there as a clerk?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: I worked as a secretary for the Army Major, wh</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">o was in charge of the X-10</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> area in Oak Ridge.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Okay. When you arrived at Hanford, what sort of work did you undertake here?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Oh, I signed up to be</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> secretary and DuPont was the contractor here for the first year </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">or so. And they sent me out to 2</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">00 West Area to be in the stenographic pool. I was the only secretary there. There were several departments, and all the departments brought their paperwork in to me. [LAUGHTER] And I took dictation for all of them who wanted to write letters of any type. </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">Then they sent another girl out—another secretary out, but she couldn’t take dictation. So I did all of that. There were several departments. I don’t remember the names of all the departments, but it was a major process.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: W</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">as it similar to what you were doing at Oak Ridge, or was it a new kind of work?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: It was the same kind of work, secretarial work.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Right. What was your impression of the Tri-Cities when you arrived? Was it like you had been warned?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: No. [LAUGHTER] We drove along the highway south of town, and Bob looked over and said, there it is. And we could see a few houses. We wen</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">t to the hotel to check in at the hotel, and the hotel w</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">as called the transient quarters. [LAUGHTER] The hotel in Oak Ridge was called the guest house. We were in the hotel about three days. Then we moved into—at that time the houses were assigned to people. There were only the two of us, </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">and </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">so they moved us into a one-bedroom prefab on Winslow Street.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: In Richland?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Winslow Street in Richland. And there was one street behind that, and behind that street was desert, all the way out to the river.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: W</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">hat were your impressions of the house? Did you like the house?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well, t</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">he house was</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> adequate. It was</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> 600 square feet.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Mm-hmm. Had a question and it went right out of my mind. [LAUGHTER] Okay. So could you tell us, what was an average day at your job? You said you took dictation, but what other kinds of work—</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Typing. In 200 West Area</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> in 1944, it</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> was typing. Except for the people who dictated. One man came in one day and he dictated the evacuation process, which took him several hours to do it. And the evacuation process—if it </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">had </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ever had to happen—the process was that it would be on buses—cattle car buses. [LAUGHTER] The seats were on the sides of the bus, vertically, not horizontally across as they are in most buses. But there was never an evacuation process. There was preparation for it, if it had happened.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Interesting. I understand the transportation to get to jobs on the Hanford site was difficult. Did you take buses?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well, there were buses. There were buses,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> yes. </span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Was that a long commute?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Yes. I don’t remember the number of miles, but it’s a long commute from Richland into the West area.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: W</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">hat was your husband working on?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: He worked on—it was a group of scientists that were—13 or 14 or 15, something like that—and they wrote the separations process. Which was part of the process.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: I g</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">u</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">e</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ss that was probably a different part of the Hanford site from where you were working?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: No, it was in 200 West Area, too. Yes. And it was a group </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">of scientists </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">who had transferred from Oak Ridge along with Bob.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Right. Could you please describe Hanford as a place to work? It’s a broad question. Let’s see—what were some of the more challenging aspects of your job?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well, that I typed for eight hours a day. I typed or took dictation eight hours a day. No coffee breaks, nothing like that, and everything was confidential. Nobody discussed their job with any other person.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: I </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">would </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">guess you would have had to have had pretty high clearance to be taking dictation on all these sensitive matters. What was that process like?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well, I worked in Two West and then I transferred to B </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">Plant, and I went to 300 Area. My</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> next</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> job, I</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">worked for Wilfred Johnson</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> when he was assistant general manager. And I worked in the 703 Building. I had Top Secret clearance </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">there. So I had kept the filing cabinet locked</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">. I took dictation from him. The rest of it was the </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">type you’re making phone calls.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: When did you find out about what the goal of the Hanford site was, to make the weapons?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: When the bomb was dropped, I read it in the local paper.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: What was your reaction?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: I was happy. </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">That the US was going to be safe.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Right. Do you—trying to think how to phrase—is that your impression of that’s when everybody around you found out as well, or was it sort of a general surprise that the—</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Yes. It was a surprise to ev</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">erybody, I think. That’s my opi</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">nion. Except the men like my husband who were working on it.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Did you continue working at the Hanford site after the war?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Yes. I worked there for ten years.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Did your work change substantially once the war was over?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well, as I said</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> I worked as a secretary in 200 West, and</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> then</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> I moved to B Plant. And I worked in B Plant, and then I went to the 300 Are</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">a and was a secretary for the he</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ad of metallurgy. And then I had the job as—I was then an executive secretary for</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> Wilfred</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">“</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">Bill</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">”</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> Johnson. And I retired after that period.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Did the workplace environment change in that time? You mentioned there were no breaks at first.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Change in what way?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: You mentioned it was very focused work during the war, no breaks, really concentra</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ting to get the job done. Did that become</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> more relaxed eventually, or was it still the same pace?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Not in the jobs I worked on. Everybody was there to work.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Interesting.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: No coffee breaks, nothing like that.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Interesting. How about—can you tell us something about your life outside of work during the wartime?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: We skied. Bob was from Wisconsin. He was a ski</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">er. And I grew up in Panhandle,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> Texas, and I did not ski. But I took lessons. And we skied on weekends.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Where would you go?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: We went to the closest one, over by—the c</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">losest one, which was south of</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> East Richland. Tollgate. We went to Tollgate and skied there. And then we went up to the Snoqualmie Pass, and we skied there when it had only three rope tows. Before they put in any kind of lifts. It was—and I don’t remember the year for that, but—shortly after we got here, we went to Snoqualmie Pass.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Did the social environment—did life in Richland change for you outside of work once the war was over?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well, there were a few more activities, because while the war was going on, there was nowhere to go. [LAUGHTER] We had a friend from Oak Ridge we played bridge </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">with </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">part of the time, and then we skied weekends.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Did you feel it was easy to meet new people when you moved here?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Did I feel--?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: I’ve heard some people say that when they first got here, they had a very easy time meeting people; I’ve heard other people say when they got here, they were so focused on the work, they didn’t get to meet as many people—</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Oh, no,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> no,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> because we had friends from Oak Ridge who were transferr</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ed who were </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">scientists. And people who were at work in that kind of work. So we visited with them, and they—we all had a</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> little </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">group, all the people that came from Oak Ridge. So we had several friends.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Let’s see. Could you describe any ways in which security or secrecy at Hanford impacted your work?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well, of course. [LAUGHTER] No visiting, no coffee breaks—we </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">worked.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Did the secrecy continue outside of work? I’ve seen in some communities that people feel that they can’t talk about the work, and that sort of gets—someone last week was describing how she sort of felt she had to be on her guard about speaking about her work. She was afraid of that. Did you feel any sort of sense like that?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: We didn’t discuss—we did not discuss work, because we were busy w</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ith whatever we were doing—play</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">ing bridge or dancing or skiing. So there was no reason to discuss work.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Sure. When you retired from being a secretary, you mentioned you eventually got into real estate. Is that right?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Yes.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Was that right away, or did you </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">have a [INAUDIBLE]</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: No, it was not. My husband died in 1974, and so I was at home. I did volunteer work for 20 years. I had no plans to go back to work, but </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">after his death, I decided to w</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">o</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">r</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">k in real estate.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Will you tell us about your volunteer work?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Oh, yes, Kadlec Hospital Auxiliary, and Mid-Columbia Symphony Guild, and Girl Scouts. All types of volunteer work.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Great. What kinds of things did you do at the hospital?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Volunteer work. I would go</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> down</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> at 7:00 in the morning, and I answered the phone in one of the departments—I think it was the children’s department, that was part of what I did. </span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: And when you started getting into real estate, can you tell me about that?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Yes, yes. I took classes at CBC. I studied hard for it, and I passed the test. I started to work for a company called—let’s see—Sherwood and Roberts. They were a</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> company that had offices in this</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> state and California and some other state. I worked for them four years, and then I transferred to other companies.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Mm-hmm. Did that job change over time? I know the communities started expanding during that period—</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Oh, well, yes, there was more work as the company got larger.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Could you describe any ways in which you think of the Tri-Cities as changing over the first couple of decades you lived here?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Well, it got larger. Larger, and they built more houses out past Winslow [LAUGHTER] Winslow Street. Well, of course it changed. There were more activities. Everybody was more—and there were people transferring in and out from large companies. There were a lot of people who came here who had worked for other companies that came here. And some had worked for General Electric or whoever the major contractor was. </span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Let’s see. Of course, during a lot of this era, the Cold War is going on as well. Did you fe</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">el that that was something </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">sort of</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> just</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> off happening in the world, or was that something that you felt impacted your life?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: The Cold War?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Yeah, of course, there’s sort of this global conflict going on. There’s a lot of still building nuclear weapons, there’s thinking about use of nuclear weapons. Some people have described sort of a fear during that time, and other people have described they were happy—they went about their work and it didn’t bother them.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: No, there was no fear to me personally. I was happy to see that the US was doing a job extremely well. I hoped it would continue to be good.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Mm-hmm. Let’s see. This is a general question. How would you like future generations to know about working at Hanford and living in Richland during the period that you lived here?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: I think they should all be very proud of it, because it ended the war.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Right. Is there anything that you think children growing up today might not know about this period?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: I have no idea whether they know or not.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Sure. Is there anything you think, beyond—sorry, I have to—trying to think through, just—as people have lived here for some time start thinking back on their lives in the community, how they would like people to think about the history of the local community? I guess you’ve answered that to some degree: we should be proud about the contributions of the time. I guess what I’m trying to get at is—what was different in</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> say</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> the ‘60s or the ‘70s</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> in living in this era than it is today? Anything come to mind?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: I don’t think there was anything different from living in </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">any good community or city.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: One of the local community leaders here—we understand you knew Sam Volpentest—</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
</div>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Yes.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
</div>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: --who contributed a lot to the local history. Would you describe your knowledge of his impact, what he was working on when you got to work with him?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: He wa</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">s a major impact. He saved the</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> Tri-Cities time after time after time. He made contacts in Washington, DC and he kept them. He flew back and forth frequently. Without his perseverance, the Tri-Cities would never </span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">have become as good as it had</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> been. He kept sure that Hanford</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> was going, which, at that time, was a main project in the Tri-Cities. And the best one producing.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: I always like to ask—what have I not asked about that I should be asking about? What else should I be asking you about?</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Oh, I don’t know. Nothing else. [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> I think you asked very well, thank you.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: Well, if anything comes to mind, or anything you’d like to expand up</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174">on</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> comes to mind, we’d of course love to hear it.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX15306174">
<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: All right, thank you.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
</div>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: But otherwise, thanks</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> so much</span><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"> for being here. It’s been very interesting.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX15306174">
<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Olson</span>: Thank you.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX15306174">
<p class="Paragraph SCX15306174"><span class="TextRun SCX15306174"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">O’Reagan</span>: All right.</span><span class="EOP SCX15306174"> </span></p>
</div>
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Douglas O' Reagan
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Sue Olson
Location
The location of the interview
Washington State University - Tri-Cities
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
00:18:53
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
245 kbps
Hanford Sites
Any sites on the Hanford site mentioned in the interview
200 West Area
B Plant
300 Area
703 Building
Years in Tri-Cities Area
Date range for the interview subject's experience in and around the Hanford site
1944-2016
Years on Hanford Site
Years on the Hanford Site, if any.
1944-1964
Names Mentioned
Any named mentioned (with any significance) from the local community.
Olson, Robert
Johnson, Bil
Volpentest, Sam
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Sue Olson
Description
An account of the resource
An interview with Sue Olson conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. The Hanford Oral History Project was sponsored by the Mission Support Alliance and the United States Department of Energy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hanford Oral History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this oral history should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for this item.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Richland (Wash.)
Hanford (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2/5/2016
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Date Modified
Date on which the resource was changed.
2016-08-09: Metadata v1 created – [J.G.]
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
The Hanford Oral History Project operates under a sub-contract from Mission Support Alliance (MSA), who are the primary contractors for the US Department of Energy's curatorial services relating to the Hanford site. This oral history project became a part of the Hanford History Project in 2015, and continues to add to this US Department of Energy collection.
200 West Area
300 Area
703 Building
B Plant
Hanford (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Richland (Wash.)
Volpentest, Sam, 1904-2005
-
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/omeka-hhp%2Foriginal%2Fd83f3c4d7f86b6e52d6cbf8bf71d5112.jpg
e7da9ff9782316d22c5ae28c305ce461
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/omeka-hhp%2Foriginal%2F8e0756e3663c4eed74b608601031114e.mp4
7aec6edb4ebd55efc217150d9f8e2d36
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Post-1943 Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this collection should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for these items.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Robert Bauman
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Jerry Yesberger
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX169569796">
<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span>Jerry Yesberger</span></span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I go by Jerry Yesberger, Jerry, J-E-R-R-Y, and then Yesberger, Y-E-S-B-E-R-G-E-R.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX169569796">
<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Robert Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">All right.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Thank you. My name's Robert Bau</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">man, and today's date is December 9</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX169569796">th</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> of 2013. And we're conducting this interview on the campus o</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">f Washington State University,</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Tri-Cities. So Jerry, let's start maybe by having you tell us when you first arrived in the area, what brought you to Hanford?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX169569796">
<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: Okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">. Well, I was born and raised in Colorado. Went to University of Denver, and I graduated with a BS degree in 1950. And let's see here. Then I worked for a short time in Colorado, mainly because I wanted to come back from the state of Washington</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">to the state of Washington. I was in the service from '43 to the end of '45. And I spent some time in the Seattle area and everything, and I really liked it. And so when I got back to Colorado, I applied for jobs with Sta</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">te of Washington and everybody. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Then there was an opening at Hanford. And at that time, everything here was General Electric company, as you probably already know. There </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">was</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> no contractors other than GE, and they ran the community. And everything</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">there wasn't anything other than GE here. And my first job at Hanford, which lasted about five years, was in the public health department, which we had most of our activity concerned for the community here, rather than the site, although there were some activities during that that we were asked to perform, such as</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—oh, </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I can remember that I'd been out to the site for some things to do with health matters and so on that I was aske</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">d to do the work on, and I did. And after about four, four-and-a-half</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> years, the city became a city away from General Electric company, and I wanted to stay with Hanford. So I applied</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">well, I don't remember how exactly I got there, but the radiation pr</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">otection department in Hanford L</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">aboratories at that time. And again, this was a time when everything was one site. There </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">was</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> no contractors other than General Electric</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">offered me</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> a job in radiation protection. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And my radiation protection time lasted an awful long time, because I retired</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> in</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> early</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">oh, gosh. Say, it was 19</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">but anyway, I had 36 years' service.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> And my fir</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">st job was out here in the 300 A</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">rea, and GE at that time gave new people an awful lot of training. And I was trained as a health physicist. And I spent, oh, gosh, the first few months training. And I spent, oh, gosh</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">they had a project here called 558 Project, and what it did was go through the old reactors, all of the old reactors and repla</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ced the tubing in the reactors. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And each one of these assignments lasted, oh, three to four </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">months. So we started out in B R</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">eactor and finished there. And my job was I had a crew of radiation monitors working for me, and we worked shift work, because there was a big, big construction job. And it took about three to four months in each of the old reactors out there to go through these,</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> replace the tubing, and so on. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">S</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">o I followed those from B to C R</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">eactor to 100</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">-</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">DR to 100</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">-</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">H to 100</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">-</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">F doing the same thing, ess</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">entially, because we went through</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> there. And then following that time, I went</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> back into 200 West A</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">rea, where I worked on projects and so on. And rather than work</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I didn't have radiation monitors work for me then, but I had always assigned projects myself to work on. And I did that in the</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I have worked in every area on the project out here, with the exception of FFTF. I did not work, and I did not have an office there. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">But every other </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">area I had an office and these things.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> So it was kind of really a broad</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> orientation program and so on. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I want to back up just a little bit. In the service, I was in the Coast Guard. And this was from '43 to '46. And I was a pharmacist's mate, and again, the training was real, </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">real</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> good. And the last year or so, I was on a ship, USS Aquarius, and it was an attack cargo ship. And our job was to take troops. We had Marines that we had aboard, and we had training to have them land on something. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">nd boy, they really trained us. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">To make a long story short, we got an assignment, and we knew we were going to move our ship. But we didn't know where or what for. But it turned out it was that they were preparing to invade Japan with troops. And I never saw so many ships in my life, where we all had troops, and we were ready to train. An</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">d we practiced getting on these</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> landing barges, and, of course, I was a medic, so </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I had to go in with the troops. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">But I never had any real active duty due in that time, prior to that time, because I was always out doing these other things. But we were ready to go in, and so we had actually moved into where we would make our move, and guess what. The Nagasaki bomb was dropped. Well, of significance there is the plutonium on that bomb was made at Hanford. So that was really an interesting aspect of it, and I've always been so, so, so, so interest</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ed in that aspect of the thing. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, shortly after that, the war was over, and everybody was discharged. And then that's when I came back and went from there, like I said, prior to this. But I thought that was an interesting aspect of this whole thing. So I worked for the General Electric Company for about five years in radiation protection doing all of these things I've been telling you all about. And again, I had ver</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">y, very, very good assignments. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Probably my most treasured assignment was I was the health physicist for biology, out in the 100</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">-F A</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">rea. And I spent a year out there, and that was because of all the animals</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">the pigs and the </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">dogs and ev</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">erything, and my job was to write</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> radiation procedures for them to do where the monitor and I had rad</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">iation monitors reporting to me </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">out there duri</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ng that time. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, following that—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I don't know how this developed, but the Atomic Energy Commission, which it was at that time, got my name, and they asked me if I would be interested in federal employment. So in the 1</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX169569796">st</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> of January, 1960, I switched jobs from the General Electric Company to the Atomic Energy Commission. And my job, there it turned out that I was a headquarters person, because we were doing what they call compliance inspection of people that are used in the state of Washington, Alaska, and Washington. Anybody that had a license for radioactive material, they had to be inspected.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> I was one of these inspectors. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And it was a very, very interesting job. It involved a tremendous amount of travel, however. And we were always</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">when I went up to Alaska several times to inspect people, and there were only for us in this whole division, by the way.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> So there was only two of us that made any inspections. And so I liked it. I like it, because I like people. But I worked at that, and it turned out that we were called Region 8 Division of Compliance, and it consolidated with Region 5 in California. So I </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">didn't want to go to California. S</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">o I was offered a job with Atomic Energy Commission here in the Richland operations office, and I stayed there until I reti</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">red for my service. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">But I was with</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">most of this time, by the way,</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> where I was transferred,</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> I was in the health and safety division at RL. And at that time, there was no</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">we had one manager for this whole site at Hanford. We didn't have</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> like t</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">hey do now, one on for the 300 A</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">rea, and all this kind of stuff. So we had our own health and safety division, so our entire</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">everything we d</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">id was associated with Hanford. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And so that's where I finished my career in 19</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">with the federal government. I did work, however, two years after retirement for a company called </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span class="SpellingError SCX169569796">MacTech</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">, and they were a contractor to DoE to work on specific problems and so on. And I worked with them for a couple of years. And I also worked on the employee compensation program for about a year, and then finally retired.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">That's kind of it in a nutshell. I hope I didn't confuse you.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: No, n</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">o. I do want to go back and </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ask a couple of questions</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">. So when you first came to Hanford in 1950, what was your first impression of the area?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well it was a shock. Number one, I had never been in eastern Washington in my life. I got a job offer, and I thought it might </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">look like Seattle, but it didn't! [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> So that's my impression. But I wouldn't trade this area for the whole state of Washington now. I love it. We raise</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">d</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> our family here, and I'm a big booster of it.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">When you first arrived, where did you live?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, my first housing was a dorm for about three months, and then we mo</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ved into a B house, which was a </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">duplex. And we lived right across from Lewis and Clark School here in Richland, and we lived in there for a year or two. Then they sold the houses here, and a fellow that I worked with down here, he didn't want to stay here, so he was living in a ranch house, which</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> I bought. And I'm still there. [LAUGHTER] And we live on Torbett</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> here in Richland, and we've been here ever since. We had one child that was born in Denver, and then our other three, and we finally had a girl, which I was so happy for. I love girls. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">[LAUGHTER] </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And she lives here, by the way. And she's the only one that lives here, and she's a special education teacher for the handicapped at Richland School. That's what she got her degree in. And she loves the work, but I couldn't do it.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Do you remember how much you paid for that house?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">We paid about $6,500. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">We sure did. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">nd prior to that, they furnished the oil, the painters, everything that was here was done for us.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Do you remember what your rent was on the B house?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yeah, it was about $30 a month.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: $30 a month.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: Yeah!</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Do you have any other memories of the community in the 1950s, what it was like at the time?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, yeah, somewhat. One of the things that mystified me was that we lived in Richland, but blacks could not live in Kennewick. They would not rent to</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">you couldn't buy a house in Kennewick if you were black. And that always, I thought, was unreasonable, because we had several blacks t</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">hat worked with us in the AEC here</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> that were wonderful. And I still don't have any</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I love them all. I like everybody.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So when you were AEC, they weren't doing the hiring of African Americans there?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">No, they hired them. Oh, yeah, AEC, there was no question on that with the government, but boy, you couldn't live here. And we had several blacks in our division, and it worked out great. No, the community</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">do you live</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I mean, do you folks live</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> here? </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, when we got here, there wa</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">s nothing north of Van Giesen</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">. Nothing. And so boy, did we see that grow.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Yeah, I imagine you’ve seen a lot of</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> change and grow</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">th</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: The week we got here—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">well, let's see. It was about</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I lived here for about, well, maybe three months in the dorm, until we got housing for my wife in that B house. And it was great, the idea of that housing.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yeah. What was the dorm like?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I didn't have any problem. Of course, I missed my family. We had a boy at that time</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> living in Colorado, and he now lives in Snohomish. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">nd again, we had the big army camp in North Richland, where we had just thousands of trailers and everything. And that was quite a sight to see.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So you said you first job was working for the health </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">department, or public health?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, it was the health and safety. Yes, it wasn't the health department at that time, but it included their functions.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">What </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">sorts of things—that first job, what sorts of</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> things did you do?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, we used to do all kinds of inspections, of course</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">. But restaurants,</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> schools, the water department in Richland, just broad health things that required health overviews. So that was the job.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">You were working for GE, right?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yes.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">How many people were working in the health at that time?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Oh, we probably had 20 or 25. We had a doctor that was in charge of us.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And then you said you</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> went into radiation protection, right?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yes, from that function. An</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">d the main reason is because GE—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">went to a community, rather than being GE</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">-</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">managed. We had to elect a city councilman. It was a city.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Do you remember what your thoughts were about that, about Richland becoming an independent city at the time?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">No, I think we all accepted it. It was good. Obviously, when you work like that, you're interested in benefits. And I think that swayed a lot of it for me to stay with GE.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Right. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So when you moved to radiation protection then, you said you had to have a lot of training at that point?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Oh, yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And for the jobs you were doing, did you have to wear special protective clothing at all?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Oh, yes.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Can you describe that? Sort of what sorts of things you had to wear.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, basically, they're just white coveralls as the one here, and they're still using the same white coveral</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ls out there, just like we did.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">How about security at Hanford? What was that like when you first came?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, I think it was very tight. It was very tight. They really stressed security and safety. Safety was</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">in my estimation, my experience, General Electric was the most, the best contractor I ever worked for in my life, because they had emphasis on safety an</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">d health and really stressed it, you </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">know. Much better than possibly they did in later years.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So was there sort of ongoing training for safety?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Oh, yes. Very, very, very, very</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">GE was very safety-conscious, and they were so good to their employees. You never read anything about anything happening in the newspaper or anything like that. They got it to their employees right away, and it was a pleasure. And the rest was a pleasure too, but not like</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I miss GE.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And you talke</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">d about, was it the 558 project?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yeah. </span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: With </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">changing the tubing. So what was your job? I know you went to each different reactor as they did that. What sort of things were you doing for that?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">My particular job was I was what they called the radiation supervisor. And so I had about eight radiation monitors with me all the time during each out</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">age</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">, and we went from one to the other. And their job was everything had to be monitored just like they do now, in and out of the areas, and move it, and take it to disposal areas, and everything.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So was it moni</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">toring the employees’ exposure rates</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yes, monitoring the employees and the jobs that they're doing, because we had to develop the radiation work procedures, which they were working at. And this would vary during the whole outage. And they were very tight at first, and there was any grinding or anything or heat or anything, you had to have special requirements for that.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">of </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">the different jobs you had and the different parts of the site that</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> you worked at, wa</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">s there a job or something you did that you found the most challenging, and/or something that was the most rewarding of the things you did</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> at Hanford</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, probably the most rewarding job I ever had here was Hanford, was I was here with Richland operations offi</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ce, and during the americium</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> accident in 1955, I think it was, and my job, at that time, was</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">as a matter of fact, I got involved in that partic</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ular incident at about 5:00</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> in the morning after it happened at 4:00. And I went out with the doctor, a</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> fellow by the name of Dr. Brei</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">tenstein, and he and I went out and met Mr</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">. McClu</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">skey out in the area, before they got me i</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">nto the decontamination center. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And my job was re</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ally I represented RL in the</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> whole aspect of the care of that patien</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">t during the months and months that he was here. B</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ecause he </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">was confined, couldn't leave, and </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">everything. And my job was to</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">as a matter of fact, I came right out to see him every single morning that he was in there, and we became very, very, very, very good friends. And it turned out I</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> was a pallbearer when he died. [LAUGHTER] </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And it was a rewarding experience, because to begin with, he was such a great guy, and he accepted all of this and was never down, but he couldn't hardly see. He was grossly contaminated. And my job was to keep people at RL down here, the Richland operations office informed of what the situation was with him, and to notify headquarters, keep them informed, because it was a real significant accident, the worst we've ever had at Hanford.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So you mentioned t</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">hat he had suffered probably with his vision.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">What other sort of injuries </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">or--</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, what happened, he</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> had put his hand in this glove</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">box out in 234</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">-5 B</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">uilding, and it exploded, and came out and hit him in the face. So he was just so grossly contaminated, and he had to have a radiation monitor with him every hour that he was down there. And I became so familiar with that accident and everything, and I felt it was the most rewarding for me to have something like that to do.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Do you remember about how long he had to stay hospitalized?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, yes. He was down there for probably a year.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> A year.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> We got hot food. It was provided to him by</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Kadlec</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Hospital down here, and he had a nurse with him down there at all times. And his wife was living down there with him also.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And where was he then? Was he at the hospital, or was he-</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, there was facility at the back of</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Kadlec</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Hospital, which is no longer there. And this facility was called Emergency Decontamination Center, and he was there. They had beds and everything in there, showers and everything. And it was a specific facility for that case, to tell you the truth. And it's since been torn down, which I think was a mistake, myself, because if you ever had another one, you couldn't have been a better facility for it.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">You mentioned you wer</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">e in close with him, and</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> were a pallbearer at his funeral. How long did he live?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">He lived about, I think, about three years. And then he died of a heart attack. It wasn't radiation. But he certainly had radiation in him that would cause cancer if he had lived too much longer.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Are there any other incidents or</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> sort of</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> unusual events that happened when you were working at Hanford that kind of stand out in your mind at all?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, I happened to be a trained accident investigator, and I had to go to school and learn all this kind of stuff. And I probably investigated more accidents than anybody ever has at Hanford. But we</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">’ve had fatalities, and we had big </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">spreads of contamination. We had several things that cause it, plus, we also responded to off-site accidents. And I had what we call a radiological assistant team that reported </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">to me, and I went out on those where t</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">here were trucks that w</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ould spill radioactive material, where t</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">here was</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">this is kind of a little odd. I probably shouldn't even mention it, but you'll appreciate it. But we had a truck of uranium billets overturn on Lolo Pass, and these billets weigh 15, 20 pounds, but there's hundreds of them in this truck. Those things went all over the highway up here in Montana. I responded to that one. And one of the things that I</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> was never trained on was guns. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">But, well, we were up there probably about a week recovering all of those billets that spilled over, because they all had to be accounted for. It was very strict on that. But we were out from town out on this pass someplace, and somebody had to sit in the truck with a gun at night to make sure nothing came, if anybody came from the</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> highway or anything like that. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, they gave me a big shotgun. I don't </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">even </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">remember what kind of gun. I couldn't have sho</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">t that damn thing if I'd had to! [LAUGHTER] And I still can't! [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> But that was kind of humorous. But we couldn't have the guy that could shoot be there all the time. So we all spent about three or four hours a night out there by ourselves.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">How long were you out there?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">We were out there a couple of weeks. But I responded to lots of</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">the worst probably the most one that I responded to as the team captain was we had a spread of contamination at the University of Washington at the reactor. And I actually, again, there was some plutonium that came from Hanford that they were analyzing up there, and there was a spill. And the reactor at the University of Washington was greatly contaminated </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">with plutonium. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">And I had a team. I had three or four people that went up with me to respond to that, and we were there two or three weeks there helping them get that all in, and we did. We got it all cleaned up, but there </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">was</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> some minor depositions. But boy, if that thing would happen now, the way it's anti-nuclear, it would be horrible. But this happen</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ed</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> to be in spring break when all o</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">f the kids were away. So we</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> lucked out on that on that thing, but we all had to wear protective clothing that two or three weeks while we were doing that. But I was the team leader on that particular accident.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Do you remember what the time period was when that happened? What year that might've been?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Oh, gosh, I can't remember that. But I responded to probably 30 or 40 spills and so on that were </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">all over the country in Oregon and Washington</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">. And then we had spills in Oregon that we had to go down to, because at that time, the state didn't have people for that function to overlook at that. So we did their work for them. And I did that fo</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">r, like I say, </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">about four or five years.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So did you usually respond if it was like material that had come from Hanford?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">No, it could be anything.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Could’ve been anything, okay.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Could be anything. I loved the job, and I loved the people, because I like people. But it was so much travel. I was always gone from Hanford.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So that was probably one of the more challenging aspects for you is just all the travel.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yeah, it was. We had young children, and it seemed like I couldn't go out and come back, there wasn't a million things broke.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> So that's the way it went.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I wanted to ask you about President Kennedy's visit in 1963, if you went to that that day. Do you have any memories about that?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, I got two memories. I got a call after that article was in the paper from the Seattle</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">no, she was from, I think, a public relations firm down here, one of them, that asked me about it. So I told them everything I knew. So I told them about this one friend of ours that happened to get up and shake Kennedy's hand. Well, of course, they were interested more in that than were what I had to say.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> [LAUGHTER] </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So the big article in the paper, he gives his report. He didn't even mention my name.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> No, I didn't care. But my son</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">-</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">in-law was there when they called too, and they quoted him in the article and everything. But poor me. No, I wasn't looking. I wasn't really looking for my name to be any place.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Yes, I was out there. It was, of course, it was in the fall when he was here, not long before he was assassinated. But it was such a hot day, and I think all of Richland went out to i</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">t. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">There was just car after car going out to that area, and some of them boiling over from the heat and all this kind of stuff. But it was a very, very excellent program.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So as you look back at</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> your years working at Hanford—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">how many was it?</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> Thirty--</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: Gee!</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Something like that?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">About 36. It was 36.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, as you look back at those 36 years, overall, how would you assess Hanford as a place to work?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, I thought i</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">t was excellent and very safety-</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">conscious. It couldn't</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> have—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">in</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> my aspect—</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">been a safer place to live in my life than I did here at Hanford. And like I say, I worked in all the reactors. I worked in the separation plants and everything, and it was interesting. I think it was rewarding, the fact that you could clean up stuff. So it makes me real</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">we had such excellent facilities out here at that time. But all those buildings are gone and torn down, and they could've been used for so many things now. And I think that was a really big mistake. But they didn't ask me.</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, i</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">s there anything I haven't asked you about that you think would be important to share or talk about?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, you know, I don't know. I think you might want to look at my submittal in the Parker Foundation on that thing and see what I said at that time and the answer to their qu</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">estions and so on. It went well. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">nd I just feel so fortunate to have been here all this time and be so lucky and still be here. I'm the luckiest guy in the world, and I'm ve</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">ry happy that I was at Hanford. </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I've got several awards while I was here for my work. One of them I do want to show you, because I'm reall</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">y probably real pleased</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">, but I was elected a fellow in the National Health Physics Society. I received awards, several from</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">—I w</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">as president of our local chapter of the Health Physics Society. I received several awards from those people. I was really well thought of while I was here at Hanford. And I was real pleased.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">So were you involved in t</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">he Parker Foundation as well</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Yes, I've been on it since</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I still am.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Do you want to talk about t</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">hat, like how you got involved with </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">that?</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I was asked</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> to join it by Dr. Bair</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">, who is still there. And I</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> know you know about Ron Kathren. Everybody knows Ron Kathren</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">. Well, </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">I play cribbage with Ron Kathren</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"> every Wednesday at my house now. We play cribbage. I just think he's such a great person, and such a great health physicist, that I was so lucky to know him. And they asked me to join, and I've been real active, until this business with my wife, which I took a leave of absence. And I haven't been able to go there, because I can't leave my wife. But I still pay my dues and go there, and it's been a good organization.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">Well, I want to thank you for coming today in this cold weather and coming and letting us talk to you. And then maybe we could get a shot of your award that you brought in.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX169569796"><span class="TextRun SCX169569796"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yesberger</span>: Oh, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX169569796">.</span><span class="EOP SCX169569796"> </span></p>
</div>
Location
The location of the interview
Washington State University - Tri-Cities
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
00:39:12
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
195 kbps
Hanford Sites
Any sites on the Hanford site mentioned in the interview
300 Area
200 West Area
B Reactor
C Reactor
100-DR
100-H Area
100-F Area
Years in Tri-Cities Area
Date range for the interview subject's experience in and around the Hanford site
1950-2013
Years on Hanford Site
Years on the Hanford Site, if any.
1950-1970
Names Mentioned
Any named mentioned (with any significance) from the local community.
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Bair, Bill
Kathren, Ron
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Jerry Yesberger
Description
An account of the resource
An interview with Jerry Yesberger conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. The Hanford Oral History Project was sponsored by the Mission Support Alliance and the United States Department of Energy.
Creator
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Hanford Oral History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities
Subject
The topic of the resource
Richland (Wash.)
Kennewick (Wash.)
Hanford (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Nuclear weapons plants--Health aspects--Washington (State)--Hanford Site Region
Richland (Wash.). Public Schools
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
12/9/2013
Rights
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Those interested in reproducing part or all of this oral history should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for this item.
Format
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video/mp4
Date Modified
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2016-07-18: Metadata v1 created – [J.G.]
Provenance
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The Hanford Oral History Project operates under a sub-contract from Mission Support Alliance (MSA), who are the primary contractors for the US Department of Energy's curatorial services relating to the Hanford site. This oral history project became a part of the Hanford History Project in 2015, and continues to add to this US Department of Energy collection.
100-DR
100-F Area
100-H Area
200 West Area
300 Area
B Reactor
C Reactor
Hanford (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Kennewick (Wash.)
Richland (Wash.)
-
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2a38262e6623571282c597a9daca931b
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/omeka-hhp%2Foriginal%2F7c6061bb308050f0219a8db9b6ffcf03.mp4
98f9b422199605caf34957b60917b70d
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Post-1943 Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this collection should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for these items.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Bauman, Robert
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Petersen, Gary
Location
The location of the interview
Washington State University - Tri Cities
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
<p>Northwest Public Television | Petersen_Gary</p>
<p>Gary Petersen: Sure. This is easy.</p>
<p>Robert Bauman: All right, let’s see.</p>
<p>Petersen: Hair's combed, eyebrows are trimmed.</p>
<p>Man One: Yeah, you sure do look pretty.</p>
<p>Petersen: Actually I'd rather watch her than—</p>
<p>[LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>Petersen: Is that--</p>
<p>Bauman: Unfortunately, you're supposed to look at me, actually.</p>
<p>Petersen: Oh. [LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>Bauman: Yeah, I’m sure. All right. Does that work there, on the mic?</p>
<p>Woman One: Mm-hmm.</p>
<p>Bauman: It’s okay?</p>
<p>Man Two: Mm-hmm.</p>
<p>Bauman: Okay.</p>
<p>Man One: We can start whenever you’re ready.</p>
<p>Bauman: All right. All set to go?</p>
<p>Woman one: All set.</p>
<p>Bauman: Excellent. All right. Well, Gary, I think we're ready to go.</p>
<p>Petersen: Fire away.</p>
<p>Bauman: All right. Well, let's start first by having you say your name and then spell it.</p>
<p>Petersen: Okay. It's Gary Peterson G-A-R-Y P-E-T-E-R-S-E-N. That's important, the E.</p>
<p>Bauman: Yes. You're right. My name's Robert Bauman and today's date is June 5<sup>th</sup> of 2014. And we are conducting this interview on the campus of Washington State University, Tri-Cities. So, Gary, let's start with the beginning of your time here. Can you tell us about when you came to Hanford and Tri-Cities, what brought you here?</p>
<p>Petersen: Well, that's a good question. [LAUGHTER] Okay. Actually, I came first in 1960, January, 1960, with the Nike Ajax Missile site at the top of Rattlesnake Mountain. And I was temporarily assigned up there--well I was assigned up there, but three times a day we'd get on the back of a two and a half ton truck and go down to the mess hall down below. And I knew I was going to die, so I asked be transferred to any place and I got sent to Korea. I said never come back to the Tri-Cities, but as you can see, I did. The second time, though, is probably the one you're after. I decided after the military that I needed to get an education, so I went to Washington State University and got a Communications degree with a minor in Electrical Engineering. I had a job with Ford Motor Company all lined up, but I wasn't too enthused about going to Detroit. That was January of 1965. And so my college professor, Chuck Cole said, gee, there's a new company opening up in Tri-Cities. Why don't you stop by? So I stopped by on a Friday, went to work on Monday with Battelle, which became Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. So there's how I got here.</p>
<p>Bauman: So, that first time, in 1960, why did you want to transfer? Was it the ride down the mountain?</p>
<p>Petersen: Three times a day with an 18-year-old driving, and you drop 2,000 feet, and at the bottom there's a 90 degree corner, 16 degree grade, and it was January. I knew that one of these was going to go off the road. So I said I've got to get out of here. So I put in request for transfer, and I transferred. Just like that. To Korea.</p>
<p>Bauman: Right. During the first time here in 1960, did you spend any time in town?</p>
<p>Petersen: We did, much different than--actually most of the servicemen, and there were quite a few of us at the four batteries, would go to--there was a bowling alley and a dance hall over in Kennewick, just off of Clearwater that was surrounded by fruit trees. Now all of that's gone and it's all businesses and so on. Clearwater's full, but at that time, it was all orchards. It was pretty nice.</p>
<p>Bauman: What were your impressions of the place, other than not liking that ride down the mountain?</p>
<p>Petersen: Well, you have to remember it was about like probably what the first military people saw when they came by here in December, January of 1943. I mean it was cold, it was brown. No trees. It was a barren place, even in 1959. So I can imagine what Colonel Mathias thought when first flew over this place. From the top of Rattlesnake, as you can imagine, you saw the entire Hanford site, so it was pretty barren and bleak.</p>
<p>Bauman: Going back a little farther, where had you lived before this? Where did you grow up?</p>
<p>Petersen: I graduated from Womack High School, which is up the Okanagan. I lived on an apple orchard. Again I was used to being around trees, and you come to the desert--I can imagine, any time between 1943 and 1959, ‘60, ‘61, ‘62, this was a pretty barren place.</p>
<p>Bauman: And so in 1965, you took the job up at Battelle.</p>
<p>Petersen: Yep.</p>
<p>Bauman: What was the job?</p>
<p>Petersen: The job to start with was a communications person. I became the manager of the news of service. The advantage I had was I got everywhere on the Hanford site, except the tank farms. I've stayed away from the tank farms successfully for a lot of years. But I spent a lot of time out on the hundred F reactor, which was the biology and aquatic biology site at the time. I got all over the site, including back up to the top of Rattlesnake Mountain a couple of times. So it was really pretty nice.</p>
<p>Bauman: When you came back then, in '65, where did you live?</p>
<p>Petersen: Lived originally in what were called the stilt apartments. They're on Jadwin. They've been fixed up since, so you would never know that they were stilt. Stilt, meaning that they actually had posts that held up the second floor. The posts were the garage for the people who lived there. But they're not far from the Chevron station, kind of in North Richland. Lived there for quite a while. And then the last of the homes that were built prior to 1958 went for sale. Those were called the Richland Village Homes. And there were two-bedroom and three-bedroom, either one-car garage attached or unattached. And they went up for sale for—I bought one—three-bedroom with a single car garage attached—for $6,200. Pretty good buy at the time, and I ended up paying less than I was for rent in the stilt apartments. I thought was pretty good deal.</p>
<p>Bauman: What was the community of Richland like at the time in the mid-1960s?</p>
<p>Petersen: The community was still just finding its way out of what I call the federal government ownership. In 1958, the city became an incorporated city again. And it was 1958 that the federal government to city back over to itself. And so between '58 and '65, it was a city that was still trying to find its way as a city, other than as a federal funded city. It was unique in that aspect. Battelle was well the first companies, too, to come in here—although it had a government contract, it was one of the few to come in here and be from the outside. Man, up until that point it was DuPont and then General Electric and then in 1965 is when the AEC decided to diversify the Hanford contract. They split it up into eight pieces, and so Battelle was one of those pieces. The others were HEHF and the operations and so on. There's been 35 contractors in here since 1965, and Battelle was one of the early ones.</p>
<p>Bauman: Now, before your first arrival here in the 1960, the Ajax site, were you familiar with Hanford? Did you know what sort of work that was going on in Hanford?</p>
<p>Petersen: Well, I did only because I spent some time up at Fairchild Air Force Base. They also had a Nike Ajax missile site. They were trying to transfer some people from Fairchild to Hanford. And so I learned a little bit about what Hanford was. The nice thing at the time is everybody--all the military guys said, oh, you're going to love the Tri-Cities because it's way warmer than Spokane. So I thought, sure, and then you come down in January and it was cold, at the top Rattlesnake you get winds up to a hundred miles an hour. It was not one of your pleasure spots at the time, but the view was great. View was great.</p>
<p>Bauman: So, you knew something about Hanford at that point.</p>
<p>Petersen: Knew that it was a military installation, federal installation. Knew that they made the material for the atomic bomb. Knew that there was a reason for the Nike Ajax missile site to be there, to protect the site. So, yes, that much we were pretty clear on, and the military took their job very seriously. There was a no fly zone over Hanford. No commercial flights, no flights of any kind other than military itself. It was pretty well protected. And on top of Rattlesnake, I might just add, that was the radar installation. It was at the highest point, so the radar reached a long way. You could see planes coming well, well in advance of them ever getting through to Hanford. What was interesting is sometimes we would notify Fairchild or McChord, and you'd actually have fighter jets intercept planes that wouldn't veer off. That was a unique feature of what you did on top of the mountain. The other sites, they had radar installations, but that one was pretty unique. That was pretty good.</p>
<p>Bauman: Yeah. So in 1965 when you came and were working in communications, what sort of responsibilities did you have there?</p>
<p>Petersen: Well, one of the assignments that was unique was to take tours to indoctrinate all new staff members, and that was for everywhere on the site. Over the years, I've taken literally thousands of people on tours over the site. At the time, it didn't seem like it was that great of a job to be able to take people around the site, explain what the reactors were, what the 100 Area, 200 Area, 300 Area, those kind of things. But as it turned out, the longer I did it the more I realized that the work that was going on here was critical. The Cold War, was still fairly active, so it became important to me to make sure that people understood what kinds of things went on here. It wasn't until later that I became interested in what happened pre-1943. As you keep tromping across the land, you start saying, oh, there were other things here too. But it was pretty good.</p>
<p>Bauman: Those site tours for new employees, were they able to go pretty much everywhere on site?</p>
<p>Petersen: We could go everywhere except into the area that had the plutonium, which is now known as the Plutonium Finishing Plant. Where there was restricted classified, the real concern was both tritium and plutonium. You couldn’t say the word tritium back in those days. You could plutonium, because they knew it was the material for the plutonium bomb, Fat Man, came from here. But tritium was something nobody talked about. And so those areas were restricted and that was mostly in the tank farm area. That was were chemical separations took place, so we stay away from those. It was okay by me.</p>
<p>Bauman: Well, that does raise—obviously, security, safety were very important at Hanford. In what ways did security at Hanford impact your job? That's obviously one way. There's certain areas you couldn't go, right?</p>
<p>Petersen: There were replaces you couldn't go. The badges--all of the badges at that time were designated to which areas you could or couldn't go. It was readily identifiable on your badge whether you were allowed into say, the 300 Area or the 100 Areas with reactors, or the 200 Area. And within them there were other exclusion zones, too. There were restrictions placed in each of those locations. Typically somebody that worked in 100 Area wouldn't ever be allowed into the 300 Area, or into the 200 Areas. The reactor areas were the 100 Area, the 300 Area was the research area, and the 200 Area was chemical separation. They were pretty segregated as to where you could go.</p>
<p>Bauman: In communications you mentioned that you couldn't say the word tritium. Were there other things you couldn't talk about or write about?</p>
<p>Petersen: You couldn't talk about quantities. As a matter of fact, there was a real restriction early on. One of the things that I found in the process of working in communication, there were nine production reactors around the Columbia River on the horn. In the summertime in particular there were periods where all nine reactors would be working. Sounds unique when you think about it today, but in the summertime June, July, August they actually measured the temperature of the Columbia River before the first reactor and after the last reactor. As I recall, if the Columbia River temperature was raised by close to ten degrees, then they would have to start shutting down the reactors, because the flow back into the Columbia River was that warm coming from reactor. In order to protect the fish and things in the river, then they really monitored the river very carefully. The reason I point that out is you also never talked about how much water went through those reactors because there was a fear that the Soviet Union could figure out the quantities of production simply by measuring the amount of water that went through those reactors, or the temperature increase from one point to another. It sounds odd today, but that was one of the strictures of what you could and couldn't talk about. It was a pretty quick--they were very careful about quantities.</p>
<p>Bauman: And I assume that you had to, when you were hired, had to go through security clearance process--?</p>
<p>Petersen: Q clearances were standard. There was one level above that that was called CRYPTO for a while. I don't know what happened on those, but that was for individuals who got around most of the site. They were a unique feature at that time.</p>
<p>Bauman: Where was your office located? Where did you work out of?</p>
<p>Petersen: Well my office moved all over. Originally it was in the old army headquarters—and this is in 1965. Battelle, when they first came in here, moved into a building that was called 3201. Later they changed it to the old office building—OSB was what it was called, old office building. But that was before the Battelle buildings were built, which became known as the Sand Castle. We lived and worked from January of 1965 until probably the spring of '66 before we moved into the new Battelle-owned buildings, the Sand Castle, which are on Battelle Boulevard now. And then later I moved out into the 300 area. I was in and out of 100F area. Those kind of places. So, yeah. How we doing?</p>
<p>Bauman: You knew the site well.</p>
<p>Petersen: Well, except for the 200 Area. That was a real restricted area, and maintained that for quite a number of years.</p>
<p>Bauman: You talked about giving tours to new employees, sort of the indoctrination to the site. How about for dignitaries, government officials, did you do that? How about the general public?</p>
<p>Petersen: The general public rarely, if never, I don't think we ever did that, but government official Catherine May was the first congresswoman I took through. She was a congresswoman from 8th District. I took Senator Magnuson through. Later Tom Foley, so quite a number of those over the years. In later years we started getting some foreign visitors, as well. But early years congressional officers, congressional staff, the governor. Dan—Governor—the name just few out of my head. The governor of the State of Washington, Dan--?</p>
<p>Bauman: Evans.</p>
<p>Petersen: Evans. Thank you. He later became also a senator from the state. He was a first governor that I helped escort across the site. Most of those, it was unique to be able to take visitors like that around the area.</p>
<p>Bauman: Do any of those tours especially stand out? Were any officials particularly interested or excited about it? Are there any sort of strange stories from that?</p>
<p>Petersen: [LAUGHTER] Well, Senator Magnuson was a unique individual. He actually came out quite a number of times. And one of those times we were in the 300 Area, and I was working at the time for Westinghouse, Westinghouse Hanford Company. He came out to actually, quote, break the ground on FFTF. We were in a building at the time, a four story office building in the 300 Area, and I'll never forget, I was assigned to make sure he got up to the podium. His vehicle came in front the building, and then drove around to the back of the building, so I ran back and met Magnuson back there. I'd known him before. Frankly, honestly, he was drunk as a skunk. I didn't think he was going to be able to make it. He says, just get me to the podium and I'll be fine. I didn't think it was possible. But he got up, he gave an excellent speech. A little wobbly, but I don't think most people knew that he had been drinking. This was 4:00 in the afternoon or so, and then he left. I might point out, it was about a year later, 1971, that President Nixon came out. There was quite a scramble, because at that time there were no buildings for Westinghouse. Westinghouse was kind of spread all over, so when the advance team for Nixon came out, they decided that the proper place would be the Battelle buildings. This sounds odd, but there was a real infighting between, at that time, Atomic Energy Commission, Westinghouse Hanford Company, and Battelle over what signs would be displayed where. Because Westinghouse was interested in making sure—this was for FFTF, and that was a Westinghouse project. On the front of the podium, of course, was the President's seal. He spoke out in front of the buildings, but behind that—or around that, Westinghouse came in the night before and put up Westinghouse circle W signs around the site. Just an example of my boss at the time, who was one of the vice presidents, said I don't care how you do it, but I want to sign that says Battelle that they can't take down and will be located visibly for all the cameras. So we stole a door off of one of the rooms in the Battelle building. I don't know if you've been the buildings or not, but they're very tall doors. They're nine-foot-tall doors. So we actually, that night, took one of the doors off, put Battelle on it, and put it up on the front of the building up high so it was right behind the podium. Westinghouse--we had to do that after midnight. That door actually was at the entrance to Battelle for—I don’t know—the next 20 years. They finally took it down not long ago. But that was relative to President Nixon showing up. That was pretty good.</p>
<p>Bauman: Stealing and moving doors.</p>
<p>Petersen: Well, everybody wanted their name and with the President of the United States, and so that's what we did.</p>
<p>Bauman: Did you get the chance to meet him when he came?</p>
<p>Petersen: I did. One of the things I still—my family still values—is Pat Nixon was along with him. My oldest daughter was one year old, and because of what I was doing, we managed to get my wife and daughter into what was called the VIP area of the presentation and so on. She didn't get to shake hands with President Nixon, but Pat Nixon came by and actually held my daughter for a brief minute. We got a picture of it and it is still on the family someplace.</p>
<p>Bauman: How about foreign dignitaries were there any--</p>
<p>Petersen: Foreign dignitaries, those came later, too, after the SALT agreements. On the signing of the SALT agreements, there was real concern both on the part of Russia, Soviet Union, and the United States for how much materials were still being made or not made. There were a number of Russian visitors who came over to verify which reactors were still operating, which ones weren't, how much material was still going through the canyon facilities, those kind of things. We started for the first time, seeing some of the senior Russian officials come through. The one that still strikes me and my memory is Admiral Sarkisov. He was head of the Russian Navy, and he came out both to see at that point the start of the reactor vessels from the submarines. Today, we have about 124 submarine and cruiser missile reactor cores out on site, but at that point I want to say we probably only had eight or ten, maybe 11, 12, something like that. But he also wanted to see those and verify that the submarines had actually been decommissioned, cut up, and so on. We toured both the reactor areas and the submarine vessel area. Of course, that's where my story about FMEF comes from, too. There was a building out there that was built for FFTF called FMEF, Fuel Material Examination Facility. On the way out to the site, Admiral Sarkisov asked, what is in that building. I told him it was a shut down building. We went out and toured the site. We toured the top of Rattlesnake Mountain with him, too, which was pretty unique. But we toured the site and coming back in, he asked if he could see that building, inside the building. So I called security. It was a closed building—it was locked up. And so they met in they let us in. As we came out, Admiral Sarkisov says, well now I can move the satellite. I asked what he was talking about. And he said, well, we've been watching that building since it was completed, and we couldn't believe the United States would build a building of that size, that massive size, and then not use it. So we knew that was connected underground some other place, because we never saw any cars come. So the Russians actually thought that that building was so secret that they had an underground entrance that came from someplace else. But he saw it was simply not used. And it is unique building. It's a billion dollar building.</p>
<p>Bauman: That's a great story. When you were giving the tour with him, was there an interpreter present when he was--</p>
<p>Petersen: There was always an interpreter. As a matter of fact, one from both State Department for us, for the people who were the escorts, and then he had his interpreters, too, so there was both. The group was probably ten people or so: site manager, and then others of that--there was people from state--you didn't let them wander around by themselves. Pretty unique.</p>
<p>Bauman: Well, you said you've been connected to Hanford since 1965--</p>
<p>Petersen: Mm-hm.</p>
<p>Bauman: I'm sure you’ve--</p>
<p>Petersen: Almost 50 years.</p>
<p>Bauman: --been privy to a lot of interesting events and stories. So I’m going to ask you to tell me some of those, but there's one in particular I know, and that's the alligator story.</p>
<p>Petersen: Yeah, the alligator story is good.</p>
<p>Bauman: All right, you can talk about that.</p>
<p>Petersen: The alligator’s pretty unique. The aquatic biology was located in 100-F Area. That's the last reactor in the downstream flow of the Columbia. So they studied the impacts of the reactors on fish, miniature swine, beagle dogs, they had African pygmy goats, but one of them—Merc Gillis was a doctor of veterinary medicine—graduate of WSU, I might add. He said that he wanted to study the uptake of strontium-90 in a thick skinned animal, because strontium is bone seeker or thick skin. So he convinced the manager of the site, of biology site, that we ought to buy some alligators. The story varies depending on who you're talking to. Bill Bair will give you one side of the story, because he was one of the managers out there. I'll give you another one. But I know for a fact at least six alligators were purchased for the studio strontium-90 uptake. Bill Bair says there were more, but I still wonder about that because I was in and out of there a lot. But these alligators were about two and a half feet long and they put them in a retention pen in the Columbia River, but it was also where the effluent from the F Reactor came back. The water would pass through the reactor, put into retention basin for a short period, and then put back in the river, so it was warmer than the river. That's part of the point. It also was the first place where the water returned to the river, so that was where the strontium would be taken up by the alligators. That's the theory. Well, two months, three months after they put the alligators into this retention pond, there was a big storm. The pen came down and all six alligators got out. This was under the AEC at the time, too—they managed to catch five, but they missed one. It was months later that a fisherman over in Ringgold, downstream, fishing caught this last alligator. Of course, he was trying to tell friends about it, and on and on. But, he had to protect the proof, so he took to a taxidermist office in Pasco and had the thing stuffed. Well, one of the technicians from aquatic biology was walking by the taxidermist shop, saw this stuffed alligator. So he ran in, grabbed the alligator, and ran out, which now makes it more or less of a public story. This was in 1963, before I got here. But the story comes around. Anyway, AEC tried to bury that story. No, we've never had an alligator out there. We don't know anything about alligators. They actually, I think, had it classified for quite some time. But when I got here in '65, my boss was a guy named George Dalen and I had been here for about a year. He says, it's time to give the alligator back. I had no idea what he was talking about, but this is where I entered the story. So he pulls out this stuffed alligator about like this, and he said it was, I think the guy's name was Aaron, he said track him down, because he was the fisherman. He paid to have it stuffed, and we're going to give the alligator back. We'll just let the story go away. So I did. I found the man. Unfortunately, the <em>Tri-City Herald</em> ran a story about this big about the alligator, and once every eight or ten years, they use one of these clips when they do the previous in history. DOE came in and they claimed to know nothing about any alligators, ever, ever, ever. It was in the technical library that they finally found the documents that showed not only did they have alligators, but the other five, they moved from 100-F when they had a fire out there, down to the 300 Area where life sciences built a new building. So I know that there were six alligators, five, one stuffed, and Bill Bair says that there were a few more than that, but I don't know that. That's the alligator story. Better told over beer, I might add, but not bad.</p>
<p>Bauman: [LAUGHTER] Are there any other stories during your time at Hanford--incidents, events, things that you were involved in in your job [INAUDIBLE]?</p>
<p>Petersen: The biggest one is one that I think this community has forgotten completely, and that's Apollo 11. Apollo 11 was the first lunar landing. When Apollo 11 came back to the moon and splashed down in the Pacific, it turned out that in 329 Building, there was a room that was used for very low level radiation detection. It was a room made of pre-World War II battleship steel. It was used for a lot of reasons for measuring very small quantities of radiation. Battelle actually put in a bid with NASA to study some of the first lunar materials that came back. So they had splash down in the Pacific, and we had a man named Dr. Lou Rancitelli, who actually waited in Houston for those materials to be flown from the Pacific, off of the aircraft carrier, back to Houston. He had a briefcase—big briefcase—chained to his wrist, where he brought those back through Seattle and then to the Hanford site. He arrived here about one in the morning, I might add. There were only a few people--Doctor Perkins, myself, a couple of others, who were waiting. We kept this all secret, because we weren't supposed to tell news media or anybody else that this was going on. But Lou got the materials back, and the next day we started petitioning NASA to allow us to display those moon rocks here in this community. The second place in the whole world that moon rocks were displayed was the Federal Building here in Richland. We managed to display them for three days, and there were lines four abreast around the federal building to look at those rocks. They'd go by and ooh and aah because it came from the moon. But almost to a person, everybody says, looks just about exactly like what we see out here in the desert. You couldn't tell them apart. But the fact that we had those lunar materials, I mean that was--wherever you were, you watched TV of the landing on the moon in 1969. That was a huge event. It was after that that Nixon came to town, but hardly anybody recalls that at all. It's just a forgotten piece of history, but at the time, it was pretty big. It was almost--and I missed it—it was almost like when President Kennedy came out to dedicate the Hanford Generating Project attached to N reactor, and that happened in 1963, just before I got here. Big events.</p>
<p>Bauman: Yeah. Yeah. Any other happenings or stories that stand out in your mind?</p>
<p>Petersen: I wasn't a part of what was called the Green Run. Others will have to tell you about the Green Run. But one of the stories I covered, and that's one of the only ones that I was out near the tank farms. Atmospheric sciences is out between the 200 East and 200 West. It has a 300-foot-tall atmospheric tower at that site. They've all been removed today, but going downwind from that 300-foot-tall tower were, number one, four or five 200-foot-tall towers and then five or six or seven 100-foot-tall towers. They would regularly release very small quantities of radioactive iodine, most usually put into colored smoke so they could track both the visual as well as radiation and see how long it took to go downwind and disperse. Just to show you how we were at the time, the photographer and I who were covering that piece as a story thought, well not only did we want to shoot it so you can see it go, but get underneath it so you could watch it as it--It's not a very smart thing to do today, but at the time it seemed like a pretty good idea to be able to watch that stuff as it drifted and deposited. So, we did the story. AEC never let us release it, but we kept the story internally for quite a number of years. I don't know what happened to it now, but those kind of things went on fairly often. You need to know where radiation goes, and that was a piece of it.</p>
<p>Bauman: Do you know roughly the time period that would have been?</p>
<p>Petersen: Well, it would have been probably '68 or '69, someplace in there. There has been more study on the Hanford site--atmospheric studies, geologic studies, temperature swings, those kind of things, than almost anywhere in the United States. They really tracked how the weather changed, how the wind moved, what the ground flow is from rain, those kind of things. It was--going to atmospheric physics lab in the 200 Area was an experience. At one point I managed to take a TV crew up, because if you climb a 300-foot-tall tower in the middle of Hanford, you could see just about everything. It turned out that we got the film crew up, they took the pictures, and then security looked at the pictures and said you have pictures of classified areas within those pictures, so they took a whole video. All of the climbing up and down was for naught. So, a pretty good place.</p>
<p>Bauman: You mentioned earlier that when you first came and started giving tours, you really didn't know much about pre-'43 events.</p>
<p>Petersen: True.</p>
<p>Bauman: When did you become more aware the communities that were out there and start learning more about that?</p>
<p>Petersen: I had the real fortunate opportunity to meet Bill Rickard, and I hope you've interviewed him. Bill is a gentleman of the first order, but Bill has probably walked that site more than any single person. One of the early things—I got acquainted with Bill. Bill ended up taking me on walks across parts of Hanford. The first time that he took me out was to Rattlesnake Springs, which is up a gully on the face of Rattlesnake Mountain. It's just an experience to go with Bill, and that was mostly on—we call a bugs and bunnies--but it was mostly what was all of nature that's out there: deer, elk, coyotes, even fish and so on. But Bill knows that site probably better than any other single person. So every chance I ever got to go out with Bill, anywhere, that's where you first got the sense that there was something here pre-1943. That's when I first saw the irrigation piping. That's where you first saw the home site--we've had two major fires across that site, and both of them ended up and taking out things and were still left. There was a home up by a Rattlesnake Springs that actually still had furniture in it. It was burned down in the first fire. So Bill knew all that stuff, and so the experience of going out with Bill was really unique. I wouldn't trade it for anything. That's where I started thinking, well—actually, Bill led me to a person named Annette--I can't think of it.</p>
<p>Bauman: Heriford?</p>
<p>Petersen: Heriford. Annette is the one who—she was in the class that would have graduated from Hanford High School out there on site. She worked for Battelle, PNL at the time. I got real acquainted with Annette, and then I helped Annette have the first reunion of her class out at that old Hanford School and that would have been, my gosh, maybe '78 or so. 1977, '78. And Annette could tell stories about what the old Hanford town was like and White Bluffs, and how rich and agricultural area it was. She was an amazing lady. It's too bad that she passed away quite some time ago. She was a real historian. You talk to those, and all of a sudden it becomes real. She's the first one that I talked to, not Bill Rickard, but Annette Heriford that that explained that some of the people had less than two weeks' notice to move off that site. You think about it and you say, that's just not possible. But it happened. Then you start feeling for the people who—there were roughly 2,000—the numbers change, depending again on who you talk to. The one on one side, the federal side, says there's only 1,500 people out there. But if you look at the historical records, you know that there were probably about 2,100—kids and the whole works. Some of the early census didn't include some of the children, or the sheep herders that moved back and forth across the site. In talking with Annette, you finally got the feeling that was something else here that happened before 1943. That's what got my attention. Good that you know her name, too.</p>
<p>Bauman: Yeah. Why did you think that was important, then, for people to know about?</p>
<p>Petersen: It was probably a little later than that that I also became acquainted with some of the Native Americans. I've got to know some of those over time, too. The relationship of the people who lived out there, both with Native Americans and the site—I’ll change directions for a minute, too. My family at that point lived in Wenatchee, so when I first came in 1965, in order to get to Wenatchee from here, you had two choices. You'd either go around through Pasco and up through Moses Lake and back, or you could go out to Vernita where there was a ferry, part time, and it didn't work at night. You'd ride the ferry and go across. That was prior to the bridge being built and so on. As you go out there, and see the ferry, you'd also see the structure that now I know is Bruggemann Warehouse, and you'd meet some of the people who were either former residents or Native Americans. Then you stopped and you waited for the ferry. You got a chance to talk to some of the people as you went back and forth. There was a lot of discussion about what was this site prior to. But growing from Vernita to Vantage that was pre-Mattawa days. Now I can visualize what Hanford must have been, because Hanford was an agricultural area, prior to—it looked like Mattawa today does. When I first started driving up there, there were no orchards between Vernita and Vantage. Now you look, there's orchards and vineyards and all kinds of stuff at Mattawa. Hanford was that, but it was that before 1943. You have to visualize what it was like, and it was amazing. Hanford really has a perfect weather pattern for early produce, and it was one of the first in the state to produce and all kinds of things--peaches and pears and cherries and walnuts, all kinds of stuff. How we doing? These guys need a break. [LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>Bauman: You started in '65. You're now at TRIDEC. At what point did you move to TRIDEC? I know you worked also at Westinghouse and [INAUDIBLE].</p>
<p>Petersen: My wife kids around and says I can't hold a job. That's the point. I typically work for a company for about seven years and then move companies. So I worked for Battelle for a while, then Westinghouse for a while, then what was called WPPSS, Washington Public Power Supply System for a while. But I retired from Battelle in 2002, and the Hanford manager for the site was Sam Volpentest. Sam was 99 years old at the time, and his doctor, who's also my doctor ended up saying, Sam you can't fly to Washington, DC anymore and go after money. I'd known Sam since '65, I met him in '65, and Sam called and said, Gary, I know you retired, but would you come back to work part time, ten hours a week, easy job go to Washington, DC for me and that's it. He had the nerve to die at 101. He lived for about a year after he hired me to do those trips. And when he passed on, as a result TRIDEC at the time said, well, we need somebody full time to do this. I wasn't real interested, so they said we'll make it part time job. You only have to work 25, 30 hours a week. It hasn't been that since. Away we go. It's nice because if they want to fire me, I'd love it. I'll go and play golf. It's a good deal.</p>
<p>Bauman: Can you talk about Sam Volpentest a little bit? Obviously, a very important figure through most of the Tri-Cities. Can you talk about his significance a little bit?</p>
<p>Petersen: Would be happy to. Sam was an incredible politician. He never ran for office that I know of, but he knew politics from the top to the bottom. He was friends with everybody from Governor Rosellini to Senator Magnuson, Senator Jackson, Speaker of the House, Tom Foley. He knew politics. If you read the book so that was just written about Sam, it has a lot of facts, but until you knew Sam--and I was fortunate. Another part of my assignment, when I first got here in '65, TRIDEC was called TRICNIC. So it had a different name. It was Tri-City Nuclear Industrial Council. And Sam was not a writer. As a matter of fact, everything he did was longhand, very pretty penmanship, but he couldn't put things down on a typewriter for taking to Washington, DC and so on. Battelle, one of their offers to the community was to provide somebody who could write to Sam to write their newsletters, to write their congressional letters, to write things. I got to know Sam when he was in a little office on the Parkway. Later he moved into the Hanford house. Sam was a mover. Most of the ideas that Sam accomplished didn't start with Sam, but he would hear an idea and he'd say, that sounds good. We're going to do that. For example, he started TRICNIC/TRIDEC in 1963. In 1963—you've got to go back in time—every road in and out of the community was two lanes. There was one airline only at the time, and Sam knew that in 1963 the government, AEC, was starting to shut down the reactors. Sam and Glen Lee and Bob Philip formed TRICNIC and they did that to try and offset, with federal dollars, the coming shut down of the production mission at Hanford. In the process, they also determined that in order to develop a community long range, you had to have transportation. Even though most people think that Sam concentrated on Hanford, he actually--and Glen Lee and Bob Philip—all really focused on how do we make the Tri-Cities bigger and better than it is? Four-lane highway was first, but airlines were second, and the third one that really was not well-known at all was education. And they went after a Center for Graduate Study for this community, which became WSU Tri-Cities. They decided that you had all of this intellectual property at the laboratory at Hanford, but you needed something for their families. I don't think it was a sit down and let's do a vision and do all these things. I think it came in pieces, where they actually decided they wanted certain things. Sometimes the fallout was better than what they expected. As an example, the breeder reactor program, which started in 1968, '69, was going to be a major, major new AEC mission. Sam went after the breeder reactor program, and he didn't get it. Savannah River did, what was called Clinch River Breeder Reactor. But he got the secondary issue, which was FFTF, which is a small test reactor that led to. As it turns out, over time the administration killed the Clinch River Breeder Reactor, but they kept FFTF going. Or, another example is we lost out on a mission that Sam really wanted that I think was called SMEVs—and maybe I'll explain it, but maybe not. And we lost that one, too, and so Sam went to Magnuson and said, we need something. Give us something. A couple days later, the story goes, Magnuson called up and said well we had a federal building planned for Montana or Wyoming or something, but they really don't want it. How about we put a federal building in the Tri-Cities. That's how this Federal Building came about. That was Sam. Sam was tenacious. He either liked you, or he didn't like you. There were people he wouldn't let in his office, period, but others-- Phenomenal memory. He could pick up a phone and call congressmen or senators from other states without ever looking the number up. He would pick up the phone--he never believed in talking to staff. He would talk to Senator Magnuson. He would talk to Chet Holifield. He would call them up personally and say I need this or I need that. He was incredible.</p>
<p>Bauman: That's a great story. How was he able to have such persuasive powers with Magnuson, Scoop Jackson, a senator also, Tom Foley, right, these US Senators? Tri-Cities is still fairly small, population-wise. Was it his tenacity?</p>
<p>Petersen: Well. It was his tenacity, but it all started with Governor Rosellini. And the fact that Sam, for a period before he came here, was in the Italian something club in Seattle, which was Rosellini, Magnuson was an honorary member. He, Sam, belonged to the Seattle club, which is still there, downtown Seattle. He made politically--he recognized that you needed political connections no matter what. When he came here and then he had the backing of Glen Lee<em>, Tri-City Herald</em>, the combination of those two—Sam took every advantage he could find. His advantage with the <em>Tri-City Herald</em> was, if he thought we needed something, then Glen Lee would support it editorially, and they would go after the politicians collectively and get it. Sam liked to take credit and he did many, many things, but it was really the combination that he put together that was pretty unique—partnerships. It took him a long time to play what I call both sides of the aisle. Typically he was a Democrat. He was a solid, solid Democrat. But he started realizing that there were Republicans that you had to deal with as well, and he needed to work with them over time, and he did. He built friendships across the whole gamut. And active, I mean, he was amazing. If you ever got a chance to go—Sam was small, but if you ever got a chance to go to Washington, DC with Sam, it was an experience. It was unbelievable. He knew where he was going. He didn't have to look at a map. He walked everywhere. I'll say he was a cheapskate, but he was a penny pincher. If a hotel cost $110 a night, he'd find one where you’d get it for $109. Sam was that kind of an individual. But he knew The Hill like nobody else I've ever seen. He knew the underground parts of The Hill, too. He didn't like to get out in the weather, so there's a whole both subway system and hallways between the House side the Capitol and the Senate side. Sam knew all of those underground links, and he'd just take off through those tunnels and go from one side of The Hill to the other side of The Hill. Amazing.</p>
<p>Bauman: And he lived a long life, so he had--</p>
<p>Petersen: 101.</p>
<p>Bauman: --connections with those politicians--</p>
<p>Petersen: Long period of time. He recognized, too, that he was outliving his supporters. He outlived Magnuson, he outlived Jackson. The one that was constant was Rosellini and Rosellini and he were the same age. And so Rosellini lived to 100, as well. Pretty good.</p>
<p>Bauman: What about Glen Lee? What sort of role--what was he like?</p>
<p>Petersen: Glen Lee was a bulldog. He's a big, imposing man. The thing that I think the <em>Tri-City Herald</em> should have done was kept his office as a mausoleum. His office was a piece of history by itself. He had pictures with Presidents, he had pictures with governors, he had memorabilia from all over the place. If you asked Sam and Glen the same question, you'd get two similar, but different answers. Who caused something to happen? I'll give you one story that is really unique. How did Battelle get here? Sam had a vision of how Battelle came; Glen Lee had a vision of how Battelle came. Fred Albaugh, one of the lab directors had a story about how Battelle came to be here. And Sherwood Fawcett, who became the first director of the lab, had a different story. I believe they're all correct, but they're different. Each one takes credit in a different way, and so Sam claims full credit for bringing Battelle here. He was at a meeting in New York and he knew that the lab was going to be bid out. He ran into Burke Thomas, who was the president of Battelle, and Sherwood Fawcett, and sold them on the idea coming. That's Sam's story. If you listened to Sherwood Fawcett, Sherwood Fawcett said that the president of the company actually was a graduate of the University of Washington. He wanted to open the lab somewhere in the state of Washington. Burke Thomas found out that this lab was going to be bids, so Burke told Sherwood go and bid on that and win it. Two different sides of the same story. I don't know which one is right.</p>
<p>Bauman: You've been connected in Hanford for quite a few years now, and seen a lot changes take place. Obviously, one of the key changes was the mission of the place itself, from production to clean up. I'm wondering if you can talk about that a little bit in terms of how you saw that and the impact that had on the area of Hanford itself?</p>
<p>Petersen: I'm happy to. I'm going to connect it back to Sam a little bit. One of the changes that was major was going from AEC, Atomic Energy Commission, to an organization for a short period called ERDA, which I forget now what that stands for. They were only and operation for a year and a half or so, and now to DOE. Most of the new missions for the Hanford site didn't come from within the federal government, they came from the community. As the production reactors were being shut down, Sam and Glen in particular saw that we needed to find new missions for Hanford. One of the first ones was a Hanford Generating Plant, which was operated by Washington Public Power Supply System, but attached to N Reactor. N Reactor was the first dual purpose reactor in the United States, and the vision was it was going to last a long time because it was the newest one and it produced 800 megawatts of power. Sam and Glen said, let's get the HGP here, because the United States wouldn't dare shut down a reactor that's producing 800 megawatts of power, so that was one the early ones. But as you started to see the reactors come down, they looked for other missions. One of the first ones was a thing called BWIP, which is--everything has an acronym, but a Basalt Waste Isolation Project, which was actually in competition with both Nevada and Texas to become the nation's repository. BWIP, that's a misnomer, what I just said. BWIP was actually the study of the geology of basalt for a repository, but it wasn't going to be the repository. It was a study site. If it worked, if it showed that it could work, then there would have been some other place on the Hanford site they would have dug deep down into the basalt and made a repository. Deaf Smith, Nevada, Yucca Mountain, and here were one of the visions of Sam and Glen and wanted to become the repository for the nation. All of a sudden there was a move in Congress that said we're going to select one and it's going to be Yucca Mountain. And so shut the other two down. And actually BWIP, the Basalt Waste Isolation Project, was shut down within a period of two to four weeks. There were hundreds of people who worked out there. When that shut down, Sam then went after that Clinch River Breeder Reactor program. The breeder reactor program ended up getting FFTF so there was certain things that happened in a sequence that he was always looking for that new mission, whatever it was. One example, the one that Sam loved to do, and I stumble on every time, is Sam also heard that MIT and some others were going after this deep space exploration project. There were two sides to that, at the time. One was SNAP, which is the Space Nuclear Application Program and the second side was what became LIGO, the Laser Interferometry Gravitational-Wave Observatory. I can only do that once. But Sam loved that one because he could spit it out. He had that one memorized and he loved to go into a congressional office and say—rather than LIGO. So Sam is the one that really pushed for that project as well. Always, they had a vision of trying to capture new missions for Hanford, and it was never really—the push never came from DOE or ERDA or AEC after the original mission. They all came from the community. And we’re in competition with Oak Ridge, Idaho Falls, Savannah River, for those kind of things.</p>
<p>Bauman: Another one of the changes that's taken place at Hanford since I've been here is there are a lot fewer buildings on site now than there were. I wonder if you could talk about that a little bit, and what that means, you think, in terms of the history.</p>
<p>Petersen: I'll start lightly and say it's a conspiracy. The conspiracy is every building that I've ever worked in out there, with the exception of FFTF, has been torn down. [LAUGHTER] So I think they're out to get me. At the top of Rattlesnake Mountain were the Nike Ajax building, they've been torn down, and buildings and then the 300 Areas that I had offices in. What we're seeing today, though, is the success of cleanup, particularly along the river corridor. I will say that the Department of Energy and the contractors have done an amazing job of cleaning up this site. When you look at the changes, particularly in the 300 Area or the reactors themselves, the change is phenomenal. I forget, I think there's something like 280 buildings have been taken off the site, and the landscape has changed. The big, tall smokestacks are gone. The water tanks that were out there are gone. The skyline has changed drastically. And they've done it, too, with an intent to try and return it to original habitat. Most of it is what's called brownfields, but they have done a tremendous job of actually recovering a lot of the vegetation the original look of the land, with the exception that this was agricultural area, so it's different. But that's a huge, huge change. And most of that's been in the last five years. It's a different thing today than it was, 1965. You just see it all over the place.</p>
<p>Bauman: You've been giving tours for years. I can't imagine how many tours you've led.</p>
<p>Petersen: I don't know. A lot.</p>
<p>Bauman: [LAUGHTER] Do you have a favorite place on the site of the different places you stopped for tours or maybe when you went out with Bill Rickard? Is there a place that you really--?</p>
<p>Petersen: The B Reactor is unique, unique, unique. There is no place like B Reactor. When you go in to B Reactor and you realize that 50,000 people were brought from all over the United States, and some foreign countries, they didn't know what they were building. They didn't have computers. They didn't have portable radios. They didn't have portable phones. And they, start to finish, built B Reactor in 11 months. That's just plain incredible. When you look at the craftsmanship of doing that, the best analogy is still from Jim Albaugh, who was the head of the Boeing program for 787s. We took him on a tour of B Reactor and he came out and he said, this would be like trying to bring in 50,000 people, have them build their own community first, because they had to have a place to live and eat and so on, and then tell them build a 787, but you've got no computers to do it with. And you've got to buy all the materials and manufacture them. So B Reactor is unique, unique. I can't say enough about B Reactor. But there's a flip side, too, and that is I've also become enamored with pre-1943. When what I think about that, it's really the city of White Bluffs, and the fact that there's still a ferry landing out there, there's a bank building out there, there's sidewalks out there. You go out and when you're alone, you go out by yourself, you can just visualize this community that used to exist. Then all of a sudden, they're moved away and 50,000 people come in in a period of weeks, just a very short period of time. They have to build a town, and then they start building things like B Reactor. And to know is all done, really, under the direction of a 36-year-old individual and a Corps of Engineers, it's unbelievable. I know a lot of cocky 36-year-olds, but I don't know anybody like Franklin Matthias to do the things he did with 50,000 people. Unbelievable. My favorite place is B Reactor. It's got to be right there.</p>
<p>Bauman: Well, I think you and I could just go on talking for hours, probably.</p>
<p>Petersen: [LAUGHTER] I think we're close.</p>
<p>Bauman: But I do wonder, is there anything that we haven't talked about yet that you want to talk about, maybe that I haven't asked you about. Any stories, or anything that's really important that you want to mention?</p>
<p>Petersen: There's a piece that has yet to be done, Bob, and that piece I've talked to several people about. That piece is trying to capture either the individuals or the families of the people who were here prior to 1943. I think it is extremely important for us as a community to find those people, identify them, bring them together, allow them back out on the site for the first time. I took the Bruggemann family back out. That was the first time--did this about three years ago. That was the first time they had been back since 1943, and to go--it's like anybody's heritage. If you have a chance to go back and see where your parents or your grandparents--or you, as a child, grew up--the vision is different. Things are smaller, but—the feel of the place. We need to find those people and give them credibility and standing so that they have the opportunity to see their heritage. It turns out that exactly the same time as people were being moved off Hanford, the Japanese were being moved off of Bainbridge Island. Exactly the same time. And they all had to be off by August of 1943. In the case of the Japanese, the federal government has actually done some very nice things. They helped some of the families regain their land. They put up displays of all kinds to say this is what happened. But here at Hanford, of those families still are scattered around the United States, and they have very little to remember the site that they knew by. When you think about--and I'll use the Bruggemanns because I know them the best--you think about Bruggemanns who had 1,400--they had 640 acres, but they leased more—and they had sheep, they had cattle, they had a working staff of something like ten to 20 people on and off, up and down. They were given two weeks to get rid of all that stuff and move. We've got to get that. We've got to capture that. We've got to help them. That's the piece. How’d we do? Did you guys go to sleep back there?</p>
<p>Man two: Huh?</p>
<p>[LAUGHTER]</p>
<p>Bauman: Well thanks very much, Gary, for sharing your stories. Like I said, I'm sure you and I could go on talking for quite a while.</p>
<p>Petersen: I recognize, too, you're really after the people who were here from pre-'63, but '63 to '65 or so. But I'm a Johnny-come-lately, so I look at it different.</p>
<p>Bauman: You know a lot of the history of the place, the stories.</p>
<p>Petersen: There's pieces that are really pretty fun. There's some of the stories, honestly, that you probably will never hear, because they have different twists to them. Some point, not with an audience, I will tell you there's another side to the Apollo 11 moon rocks that got here. It's a very unique story that only a couple people know, how they actually came to the site. And it was tough.</p>
<p>Bauman: Thanks so much, Gary.</p>
<p>Petersen: Yeah.</p>
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
01:08:37
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
260 kbps
Hanford Sites
Any sites on the Hanford site mentioned in the interview
B Reactor
100 Area
200 Area
300 Area
N Reactor
200 East Area
200 West Area
Years in Tri-Cities Area
Date range for the interview subject's experience in and around the Hanford site
1960-2014
Years on Hanford Site
Years on the Hanford Site, if any.
ca1965-2014
Names Mentioned
Any named mentioned (with any significance) from the local community.
May, Catherine
Foley, Tom
Nixon, Pat
Bair, William (Bill)
Rickard, Bill
Volpentest, Sam
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Gary Petersen
Description
An account of the resource
An interview with Gary Petersen conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. The Hanford Oral History Project was sponsored by the Mission Support Alliance and the United States Department of Energy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hanford Oral History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014-6-5
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this oral history should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for this item.
Date Modified
Date on which the resource was changed.
2016-07-22: Metadata v1 created – [RG]
Subject
The topic of the resource
Hanford (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Hanford Nuclear Site (Wash.)
Richland (Wash.)
100 Area
200 Area
200 East Area
200 West Area
300 Area
B Reactor
DuPont
General Electric
N Reactor
Plutonium Finishing Plant
Volpentest, Sam, 1904-2005
Washington Public Power Supply System (WOOPS)
-
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/omeka-hhp%2Foriginal%2F1e70e5f6902f36a8dce5b5ec4f9229c3.jpg
2299143b7462e91e44a8263168c065d0
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/omeka-hhp%2Foriginal%2F668060df69888e4182ac2a6dd4aa0020.mp4
1c1a7cedc234e0082608686d3d8c0ae2
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Post-1943 Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this collection should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for these items.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Robert Bauman
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Samuel Moore
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX100368582">
<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><strong><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Northwest Public Television | </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span class="SpellingError SCX100368582">Moore_Samuel</span></span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></strong></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Robert Bauman</span>: My name is Robert Bauman, and I am conducting an oral history interview with Samuel Moore, correct?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Samuel Moore</span>: Right, Samuel--</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: This date is July 9, 2013. And the interview is being conducted on the campus of Washington State University, Tri-Cities. And I'll be talking with Mr. Moore about his experiences working at Hanford site, living in Richland and so forth. So maybe let's start actually from the beginning, if you want, could you tell me how and why you came to Hanford, how you heard about it, how you got here?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: Okay, I'm going to tell you how I got here. My father was working at a cook in the mental section of Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. And he came home, and he says, there's a better job at Hanford, Washington. So he left and came out. Then he told them that I can't be here without my family. So they put us on, I think it was a troop train, and it stopped in Pasco and set us off.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Could you--where is Camp Chaffee, Arkansas?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">It's</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> east of Ft. Smith and that, so.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: And how old were you at the time?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: About eight. And then we come in--put us off of this I'll call it a troop train, because there was a zillion soldiers on it. And it picks up and they took us to Kennewick to a place called Naval Housing. And </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">that's where they put the people coming in for Hanford workers to stay until a house was available. And we stayed there, and then from there we moved to this nice little square building which had a flat top, set up on stilts. And it was called a prefab at 1300 Totten Street. And that means that we lived at the end house. The telephones were on the telephone poles at the end of the block. So when the phone would ring you were told to answer the phone and go get whoever it wanted who. So that's the way we started in Richland. And we lived there for I don't know how long. And then we moved to different houses around Richland until I graduated from Columbia High School, which was Columbia High School in Richland at that time. Now it's Richland High. And then after that I did a short job with a construction company. And then I went to work for General Electric, running one of their blueprint machines when they were ge</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">tting ready to build the REDOX Building and the PUREX B</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">uilding. So I'd go, I was the first one in to warm up the machines and run them for </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">a while. And then after while I </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">got </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span class="SpellingError SCX100368582">uplined</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> and I could deliver those suckers out into the area. So that was my starting with General Electric then.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, so let me go back a little bit. So what year did your family arrive then?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">19--it was either 1943 or '44.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">. And your father, was he a cook here also?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">No, no. He'd come out and he was a, as we call them today, rent-a-cop. He wa</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">s a patrolman out there. And he worked as a patrolman ‘ti</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">l he retired.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And you said that your first job was with General Electric, and what year would that have been?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">About 1953 or 4. Then I went from there, like I say I was in the blueprint sections</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> and all that. And then I had a job—</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">I got a chance to become an engineer's assistant. And then when they were g</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">oing out and building different </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">things</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> so that helped me get into the other sections</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> of General Electric and so on. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And when that one cut, I transferred into radiation monitoring. And that was when</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> they had the Hanford labs, and </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">the old animal</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> farm was at</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> 100 F A</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rea</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">. So I worked in that group until--I f</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">orget what year it was. I'm not </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">good on years and dates. But when they decided they were going to re-tube all of </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">those reactors out there in the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">hundred areas and so they could put bigger slugs in them and all that stuff, I worke</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d on that until about 1957. And </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">they said, guess what? We're not going to pay you anymore. So I left</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> here. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">But I stayed with the government job. I went to the Nevada test site and blew all </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">the plutonium up that they made </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">out here. So then I came back to Hanford in 1960. So then I was still in radiation </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">monitoring and worked all kinds </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">of different places, tank farms and everywhere else out there that I could think about.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So it sounds like you worked all over the Hanford site.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">All over the Hanford site, that's right, yes, everywhere. And I worked a lot of the tim</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">es at the burial grounds in 200 </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">W</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">est</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> A</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rea. When they would tak</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">e the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">big wooden boxes to PUREX and RE</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">DOX </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">and th</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ey'd fill them. And then they'd </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">pull them up, and they'd put a big long cable on the whole string of cars, and that </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">box was way down that string of </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">cars. And then when they get up to the burial ground, the train and it would coordinat</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">e, and they'd pull it back. And </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">as the cable would come around, and when the box got to the trench, the train would stop. And they'd just spin it</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">around and down in a trench. And then we get the honor of riding the bulldozers to set those freights so they</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">could cover them up.</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">That was one of the deals. And the other times I worked in a lot of the tank farm</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">s and pulling </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">pumps and putting </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">new bearings in those pumps and all that kind of stuff. It was an experience, believe me.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah, I'm sure it was. So a lot of this was</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> with</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> radiation monitoring?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: It was r</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">adiation monitoring. And I was in radiation monitoring until 1980-something. And I </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">had a little problem out there, </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">and they wanted me to release some stuff. And I said</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, uh-uh, not me, it </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span class="SpellingError SCX100368582">ain't</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> mine. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So they said, well we've got this other section over here that you should be in, so I g</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ot into the safety part </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">with respiratory protection. And I was trained to repair the breathing air things, like the firemen use</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">. I was trained </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">to do that, fix the PAPRs, and</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> escape packs, and all that stuff so. And check over places for where they</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">—oxygen </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">levels to where they could go in and work and all that, so that was my last eig</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ht years of Hanford, was in the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">respiratory section I'll call it.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And so when did you retire then?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">In 1994.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So almost 40 years minus the years that you were with--</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah, yeah. Well as the way I said, when I came back to Hanford in 1960, they tol</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d me it was a temporary job, it would probably only last six, eight</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> months. Well, I found out that at Hanford a temporary j</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ob is pretty permanent. It only </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">lasted 33 and 1/2 years. It's a temporary job there, so I guess at all turned out pretty good.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: I guess you could</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> consider that temporary.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Temporary, yeah. Yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So many interesting things that you've worked on. So let's go back to the early yea</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rs. First, in the 1950s and you </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">talked about radiation monitoring, something with radiation, you did blueprin</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">t and stuff, but then radiation </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">monitoring?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And then radiation monitoring, yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, and some of that was with animals? Is that right?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Well, I went into the animal farm on some certain times, but I wasn't assigned th</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ere for anything. The big one I </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">was assigned to was what they called the 558 project, which is when they re-tubed al</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">l of the old reactors. And that </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">was, you'd go in and set dose rates for all the people when they're</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> working. And so it was a deal. </span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And now Hanford, of course, is a highly secure site, right, lots of security, secrecy to</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> a certain extent. Can you talk </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">about that at all? I mean, in terms of getting to work or at work, how did that impact you?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Most of the places where I was, the secure part of it wasn't that strict. But other p</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">laces like, some of those </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">buildings, yeah</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> they were really a strict situation. And when I go back a ways, when my dad and we lived in this</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">—I </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">call it the slum house on Totten Street--nobody knew what was happening. Nobody knew. I didn't know what the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">guy next door was doing, and they didn't know what my dad did. Until I think it was 1944 or '45 when they</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">announced what they were really doing here. And it was kind of a </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">shock, that</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> deal, so. That was my deals of the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">secrecy out there.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Now, did you have to have special security clearance?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yes, yes, I did. I had special clearances, yes. I had everything but the very to</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">p secret one. And that was real </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">handy because when I left here, I went to the Nevada test site. I had to use the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> same secret pass. And then the same thing when I come back. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">It was very, very--what am I trying to say here? I mean, I'm an old guy. I'm just abo</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ut at the end of the road here. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Most of my work, like I say, was the tank farms, and those places, where secrecy was not involved in that. An</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d it </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">was like times when you'd have a spill, you dig it up and prepare it to the burial gro</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">und. A lot of that was the work </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">that we did.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And you said your first job was at General Electric. Obviously, there are different contractors.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Now, who all did you work for over the years?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Well, we went to General Electric. Then it went to there was one called Isochem</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> Ro</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ckwell, oh there's a whole slug </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">of them, I can't remember all of them. So it seemed like every time you'd turn a</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">round, they were turned over to </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">somebody new. But it was Westinghouse when I decided I would better leave before I had a real problem.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So can you talk about what was happening there toward the end that made you want to leave?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Well, I was, like I say, I was working on the PAPRs and all that kind of stuff. It got t</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">o be a real drag, you know. And </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ev</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">erybody was doing that then. It</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> got to the point where every time you tur</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">n</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ed</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> around, everybody was wanting </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">this, and wanting this, and wanting this. You're only one person. And I was a guy that did </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">most all the fixing. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So I decided--to my wife, I said--I call her the voice from the other side. She said,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> what's the matter? And I says, </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">well, before I mess up on one of these pieces of equipment and kill somebody, I th</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ink I better retire. So we just decided, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And she worked for the Hanford P</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">roject</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> too</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">nd of course she was </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">much better off than I was. She </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">worked for one of t</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">he big managers as a secretary. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So we just decided that was it. And we had our</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> nest eggs saved up and said, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, it's retired an</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d we're going to </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">see the world. And we did that until my one eye decides to go bad. Then we ha</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d to stop. Other than that, I'd </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">probably been in who knows where.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: While you we</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">re working at Hanford were there any significant events, or sort of, things that have </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">happened that sort </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">of stand out in your mind specifically?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: Yeah, and I was</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> tryin</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">g to think. It was about 1962, g</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">raveyard shift, 233-</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">S, it caught on</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> fire and it burned. And it was </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">a big mess. That's where I wound up with my shot of plutonium in my bones, as I'</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ll say, from that fire. And, of </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">course, back in those days you didn't know what was what, so they </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">worked on it and cleaned it up. And but t</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">here's a couple of contamination things that sticks out in my mind. One </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">of them is, we used to bury the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">material from 300</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> A</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rea which is, I guess you would c</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">all a Westinghouse, Battelle or somebody. And we used to </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">dump them into caissons in the backside of the 234</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">-</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">5 A</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rea. And we had one of those that kind of brok</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">e open and </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">messed us up a little bit. Took</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> us maybe six</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> eight</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, hours to get cleaned up so we we</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">re able to go on our merry way. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">But those are the only two that really stick out in my mind.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Did you miss any amount of work as a result the exposures when you had those?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Nope. Nope. They just cleaned you up and said go back to work. You all have</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> to remember that back in those </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">days</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> all of the things that happened in a lot of places</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> we didn't know. We didn't </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">know what the repercussions was </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">going to be. We didn't know that. Now, this is why we're paying for a lot of stuff r</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ight now is because we didn't know how to do all that stuff. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">But like I say, there's a lot more people that know a lot more about that Hanford stu</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ff than I do. Like I said, it's </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">been many a year since I worked some of those places, too, that I can't remember some of the stuff.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Sure, sure. The radiation monitoring group, how large of a group was that</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">? And how many employees do you </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">know, have an idea who worked--</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">There was probably about 60 or better. But each company, I think, had a group of their own. The 2</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">00 A</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">reas had </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">one big group. The 100 Areas had a group. And then 300 A</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rea had a group, so </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">you put them all together there </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">was probably more than 60-some.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Okay, and just to—</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">you said there was a fire in, you think about, 19</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">62. Was it the 200 A</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rea?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: Yep, in the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> 200</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, down behind the RE</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">DOX</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> B</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">uilding. That just, poof, was it and it w</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ent, so. And I think the reason </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">they had the fire was because somebody had some greasy coveralls and stuff a</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">nd didn't take care of them the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">proper way, and the first thing you know, poof, they were on fire.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And this was where there was radioactive material?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah, it was back in the radioactive area, so everything got messed up.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And at the time you probably didn't know necessarily everything, but you've had some health problems </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">since </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">then?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, but I won't say that my health problem is caused by </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">the contamination that I had or was dumped</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> with. I've had quite a few of those. I've had a melanoma cance</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">r in this ear, and I had a very </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">large contamination that got in that ear and area. So I've had to have some surg</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ery done there, skin grafts and </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">that kind of stuff. But so far it hasn't slowed me up.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">I'm going to shift gears a little bit here. Were you working here in 1963 then when President Kennedy came to?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah, yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And do you remember at all? Were you there that day?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">No. Well, I was on a project that day, but I was not out where he was. I was one </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">of the, I guess how would I say </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">this, the lower steel, so I took care of the work over while everybody went to tha</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">t. But yeah, I was here. I came </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">back from Nevada on September 13, 1960, and I worked till '94.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And then I wanted to a</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">sk you a little about Richland. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So other than when you first got here, it sounds like you lived in Richland most of the time?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">How would you describe Richland as a community at the time, as a place to live?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">It was very good</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> because at that time, when you we</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">re there, you didn't even have </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">to worry about locking doors. I </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">mean, everybody was—it </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">just one big thing. It was a government town and every</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">thing would deal like that. And </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">nobody really did</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">didn't have the vandalism or anything like that around town. An</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d as you probably know that, if </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">you're familiar with Fred M</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">e</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">yer</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">’s on</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Wellsian </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Way down there, that was</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> a swamp deal, because that was </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">where Ric</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">hland got their drinking water. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Like I said</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> I lived in 1303 Totten the very first time and then we move</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d from there down to on Benham Street. And </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">I don't know how to say this, other than the way I normally say that, but that was down where we call</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ed the turd </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">churn. That was the sewage plant down there. Then from </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">there I moved back up to Swift. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And then in--I was trying to think when it was, 1963 or so, they did away with the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> old irrigation ditch that came </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">through Richland and goes underneath Carmichael, because that's where they</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> flooded the cattail place down </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">there for the drinking water in Richland, and l</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">et it seep down and pump it up. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And they busted everything up and back about then I was reading the Villager, I th</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ink it was, the Tri-City paper, a</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">nd ther</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">e was a lot for sale on Totten S</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">treet. So I bought it and went out and looked a</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">t it. It was the old irrigation </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ditch. And I built a house over the old irrigation ditch, and I still live there.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: And you—</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">when you first arrived you were a child.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">What was it like going to school? I'm assuming that there were people from sort of all over</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, right?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">All over. Yeah. And you just walk to school. And it was, like I say, there was no bu</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ses or anything, you could walk </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">to school. And everybody just seemed to fit right in</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> you know. Nobody ha</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d any qualms whether I was from Arkansas or anywhere else. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">But like I say when the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">first house there in Richland, Wr</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ight Avenue was the last </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">street in town. And beyond that </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">was one of the most fabulous cherry orchards that there was. And when you we</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">re a kid you'd slip over in the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">cherry orchard and get cherries and take them home to your mother. And she co</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">uld make you some jams, jellies, or </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">whatever pie, </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">or whatever. But it was a deal. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">There was quite a group of kids that came from all over the country. And they just</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> seemed to fit in, none of this </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">gang thing or anything like that. They were just, everybody was all buddy-buddy, you know?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">You me</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ntioned you went to, what was then </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Columbia High School.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">How about elementary and middle school?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And in elementary school when we moved the one that I really remember was Le</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">wis and Clark down on the south </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">end of town. And I went ther</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">e until one of the,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> I'll call them students decided to burn </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">it down. And they </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">burnt Lewis and Clark down. And so a lot of us were told to go up to Marcus Whi</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">tman and finish off the year up there. So we did that. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And then them from there on Carm</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ichael, the junior high, was </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">being built and I think they opened it u</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">p at about </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">a mid-year. And I was one of the ones I went there the mid-year into Carmichael a</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">nd then over to the high school </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">after that.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And so what year was that the Lewis and Clark burned down? Was that like in the late '40s then?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah. But the funny part of it is, not too many years ago they arrested a fell</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ow down in Portland. And he was </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">laughing about burning the building down. So I guess they couldn't do anything</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> to him, but they found out who burned it down now. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah. Well, there was Lewis and Clark, Marcus Whitman, Sacajawea which wa</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">s right there by Central United </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Protestant Church was the old Sacajawea school. And then there's Jefferson which i</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">s still going. And our fabulous </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">people are trying to shut it down, move it, and do something else with it. But w</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ho knows what's going to happen</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Do you remember when you were growing up and going to school and living </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">here at that time any community </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">events, parades?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Oh, yeah!</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> Atomic Frontier Days was a big—the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> big, big thing. I have breakfas</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">t with a group of Columbia High </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">graduates and I can't remember what her name is, but she was one of them th</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">at used to run for the Queen of </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Frontier Days. And there was a couple othe</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rs. But that was the big thing. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">they used to take—</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Howard</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> Amon </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Park turned into booths</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, and just like a big fair down </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">there. So it was things, and then all a sudden they decided to move everything around to the Tri-Cities.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And was that in the summer?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah, that was always in the summer, you know. And then the big hydroplane rac</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">es, they would come in, but they </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">were the old ones that had the 1</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">2</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">00</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> or 1,300 horse-powered gasoline engines in t</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">hem, the noise makers. But that </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">was </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">about the extent of the things. And if we</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> go back I can remember the floods came through and when they b</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">uild all the dikes that they're </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">tearing down now. But I don't</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> think they</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> got to worry about that, being as the dams are still functioning.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Do you remember some of the floods?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: Oh yeah, I can remember</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> the flood deals, when they built the road up to going </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">to the Y. They had to build all </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">that </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">up because you didn't get to</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> Kennewick when the flood was on. Well</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">, it was right up to the George Washington Way r</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">oad there by wherever the guy that has the petrified stumps down there. The water was j</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ust </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">across the street from his house, was right up to the edge there.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">So </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">I want to go back now to H</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">anford itself and your work experienc</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">es there. You talked about some </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">specific things you did and some specific things. How would you describe</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> Hanford as a </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">place to work?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Hanford was a real good place to work. It was really good work, and good place </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">to work. Mainly I think because </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">you didn't know everything that was going on. So you knew that you had your se</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ction, what you were doing, and </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">you didn't want to make waves or something like that. But to me, Ha</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">nford was a good place to work. </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">There was a lot of--I had a lot of good friends that came up through the, I call th</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">em the ranks. They were, like I </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">worked in the blueprint and there was guys that drove the mail trucks. We wound up</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> as a real knit group of people </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">there</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">. They work out of the old 703 B</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">uilding, which part of </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">it's</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> still there. And we used to have Cok</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">e breaks and go </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">back there. And everybody put a quarter in the pot and then get your Coke </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">bottle. When it was all through </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">whoever had the bottle that was from farthest away got the kitty. So it was a good place to work</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> really.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And I guess is there anything you would like future generations to know about working at Hanford site?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Well, I would like everybody to know that where this country really screwed u</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">p was when we dropped that bomb </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">and blew up everything. We kept everything too secret. They should have let e</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">verybody know what that was and </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">what was happening. Today we would have had a better deal of doing what they're </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">doing today if they'd done that, </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">I think. Now that's my opinion and no one else's, but if they would have just let t</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">hem know what was going on, and </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">what happened, it would have been a lot better.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And then is there anything that I haven't asked you about in terms of either your </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">job at Hanford—or jobs, I should </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">say</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> at Hanford?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">No.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Or living in Richland? That I haven't asked you about, that you'd like to talk about?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">No. Like I say, Richland was a good place to live, though, and Hanford was a goo</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d place to work. I mean you did </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">your job, and everybody else did theirs, and everything worked out just fine. There's a lot of th</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ings that I'm not too </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">sure of what happened. But a lot of those places they did have things when they</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> were doing experiments for the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Navy and all kind of stuff out there. But I didn't get in on any of that stuff at all. It was one of those deals, you go in</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">and you dress out, and most the time the monitors were </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">the first ones and the last ones out. So that was the deal.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">When you did that, did you wear a badge?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah, TLD, the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">rmoluminescent dosimeter. So y</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ou always had a badge on. I understan</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d that </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">some of the guys used to take theirs and set them aside so they wouldn't get too m</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">uch radiation, so they would be </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">eligible for overtime. But I wasn't into that overtime route.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And so how would you know? How did it register that you had too much exposure?</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> How was that read?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Well they put it into a meter that would read what the </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span class="SpellingError SCX100368582">thermo</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> was. And the original ones were--</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">what am I trying to </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">say? Film, there was a film. And they would read the film of what, how much had b</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">een exposed to that. And that's how they got your </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">dose rates there, how much you took.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And did that change at some point to some other method?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah, they used the film badges to start with. Then they flipped over and they </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">found out they could use these, </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">what did</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> I call them, thermoluminescent</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> detectors, which is you put at charge on </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">them. And I guess the radiation </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">would discharge</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> the charge. So they'll know how much was used off of it. An</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">d then you had pencils that you </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">read, that would tell you, that would read if you were supposed to take, let's say, </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">50 MR. Well you'd set that when </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">you come out, you'd be there and there was always time keepers. There was a tim</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">e keeper in that group that was </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">taking how much your exposure was, and how long you had been there, and calcul</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ating it to when you should get your</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">self out.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And they would let you know that?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And then they'd tap you on the shoulder and say, go. So then they</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">’d</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> go out. And then there would be somebody out</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">there that would get them undressed and check them, clean them, and make sure they were all, no contamination</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">on them and either send them to lunch or home.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">And that sort of procedure--</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">That procedure.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">--throughout the time--</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Throughout the whole time I was there, yeah. Yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">All right. Well thank you ver</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">y much. I really appreciate</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> you</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">r</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> being willing to c</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">ome in and talk to us. And very </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">interesting--</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Yeah, like to say, there's things out there that my mind just doesn't pick up on the</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">m right now. So probably middle </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">of the night at one o'clock, I'll wake up and say, golly, I should have told him this. But n</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">o, that's the deal. But really, </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">Hanford was a good place to work and to me, it's been real good to me. I got a good retirement off of it.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX100368582">
<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">All right. Well, thank you very much.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX100368582">
<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">You bet.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX100368582">
<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">I really appreciate it.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX100368582">
<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">You bet. And seeing now that he's got the shut off</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> I'll tell you about my week. I took</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> my motor home and went to </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span class="SpellingError SCX100368582">Ilwaco</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">. You know where </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span class="SpellingError SCX100368582">Ilwaco</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"> is on the Columbia River?</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX100368582">
<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Man three</span>: Yeah, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX100368582">
<p class="Paragraph SCX100368582"><span class="TextRun SCX100368582"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Moore</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX100368582">On the way over there.</span><span class="EOP SCX100368582"> </span></p>
</div>
Location
The location of the interview
Washington State University - Tri-Cities
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
00:35:10
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
250kbps
Hanford Sites
Any sites on the Hanford site mentioned in the interview
Reduction-Oxidation Plant (REDOX
Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant (PUREX)
703 Building
100 F Area
200 West Area
300 Area
234-5 Area
200 Area
100 Area
Years in Tri-Cities Area
Date range for the interview subject's experience in and around the Hanford site
1953-2013
Years on Hanford Site
Years on the Hanford Site, if any.
1953-1994
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Samuel Moore
Description
An account of the resource
An interview with Samuel Moore conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. The Hanford Oral History Project was sponsored by the Mission Support Alliance and the United States Department of Energy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hanford Oral History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities
Date Modified
Date on which the resource was changed.
2016-06-16: Metadata v1 created – [J.G.]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
7/9/2013
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this oral history should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for this item.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
The Hanford Oral History Project operates under a sub-contract from Mission Support Alliance (MSA), who are the primary contractors for the US Department of Energy's curatorial services relating to the Hanford site. This oral history project became a part of the Hanford History Project in 2015, and continues to add to this US Department of Energy collection.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Richland (Wash.)
Kennewick (Wash.)
Hanford (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Nuclear weapons plants--Health aspects--Washington (State)--Hanford Site Region
100 Area
100 F Area
200 Area
200 West Area
234-5 Area
300 Area
703 Building
Hanford (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Kennewick (Wash.)
Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant (PUREX
Reduction-Oxidation Plant (REDOX)
Richland (Wash.)
-
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/omeka-hhp%2Foriginal%2F7f6d2722f96af5759ce34d284e17ceb3.jpg
2e6c63401f341726a5d00d80c6b894e0
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/omeka-hhp%2Foriginal%2F35192d6fa7246bcbeafa4d77f812dca4.mp4
5118fbd730bbe880f6366cbc5584f62f
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Post-1943 Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this collection should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for these items.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Robert Bauman
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Bob Smith
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><strong><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Northwest Public Television | </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span class="SpellingError SCX91453010">Smith_Bob</span></span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></strong></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I'm going to start by just maybe having you state your name first.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: That's Robert Lee Smith. I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> usually go by Bob.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, and my name is Robert Bauman, and I'm conducting an oral history inte</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rview with Bob Smith on July 16</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX91453010">th</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> of </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">2013, and the interview's being conducted on the campus of Washington State University</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Tri-Cities. And I'll be</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">talking with Bob Smith about his experience working at the Hanford site. So I thought we'd start today by just</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">asking you to talk about how you came to Hanford, how that happened, when that was, and what brought you</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">here.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, it had to happen about 1951. My Kansas National Guard unit got called into federal service during the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Korean War, and we wound up at Fort Lewis. So one day, a friend and I were hitchhiking into Yakima, and this</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">car, Oldsmobile station wagon</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">looked like a brand new one</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">pulled up to give us a ride.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So we got to asking him questions about, well, gee, you must have a nice job to afford a car like this. Yeah, I've</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">got a pretty nice job, he says. Well, what do you do? He says, I'm a guard over at the Hanford Atomic Works. I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">says, well, where's that? He said, oh, it's 80 miles down the road.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">We weren't bashful about asking questions, so we says, well, how much do you make? He says well I make $100</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">a week. $100 a week? Wow. I had just left Pittsburg, Kansas at a job at $30 a week as a clerk typist. So I thought</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">to myself, I want to check that place out.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So eventually I did. I wound up as a clerk</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> when they were building the K A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">reas, not making $100 a week, but I was</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">making $60 a week.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And did you have any idea of what Hanford was at the time?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I had read a short article in the newspaper, I think, over at Fort Lewis, something about they had atomic energy</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">work going on here, and it was secret, and it got my imagination, my curiosity</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> up</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. I thought, I'm going to have to</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">check that place out. So I eventually did.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And what were your first impressions of the place when you first arrived to work?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I thought it was a real nice place. I got here </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">on June 8</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX91453010">th</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> in 1953. And the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> weather was nice and clear and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">really nice. I saw the Rattlesnake Mountain off of the site, back over there, and I thought, man, that's really pretty.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">We didn't have any mountains like that back in Kansas.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I was living at the dormitory, so I would run out in the morning and catch a bus, take me to the bus lot, and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">then fro</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">m the bus lot I'd go out to 100-K A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rea. So anyhow, I was very impressed with the area around here.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And so what was your first job? What sort of job were you doing?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">t was a clerk typist out of 100-K A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rea, whe</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">n they were building the K-East and K-W</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">est Reactor. It was back in</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">1953.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And so which contractor?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">General Electric.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">General Electric.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, General Electric Company.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, and you said you lived in a dormitory when you first came?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yes, mm-hmm.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And where were those at the time?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">It was where Albertsons Grocery Store is now on Stevens</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Stevens</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> and the Lee Boulevard.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And it was an all-men dormitory?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, it had a W-21, which stood for Women's, but there were two dormitories in there that had men in them, but</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they started with a W because eventually they thought they would be women's dorms. But they had more men</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">than women, I guess, so I wound up in W-21.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And how large was the dorm?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Just like any college dormitory, actually</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">two story, stairs on the outside you could</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> go</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> up, as well stairs inside--typical college-type dorm.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And how long did you live in the dorm then?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, I lived in the dorm until I got married in 1954. I got married in May of '54, so. While living there, they</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eventually transferred me up to M-1 dormitory, which</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> is up close to Jadwin and Symons</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, something like that.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Because—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">for some reason, maybe they had sold their area to Albertsons. I don't know. But I eventually moved up</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">there. So I was there about a year.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Okay. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And then after you got married, where did you move at that point?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, we got an apartment over in Kennewick, but we were only there for about week before our names came</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">through. We had put in for a house to rent in Richland, because it was still a government town at that time. And we</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> got a B </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">house at that time at 1413 McPherson. So being over this one bedroom basement apartment in</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Kennewick only lasted about a week, </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">so we moved into the Richland B </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">house.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And what were your impressions of Richland at the time? What sort of community was it?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I thought it was real nice. It had the downtown section and also the uptown. The uptown section was fairly new at</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">that time. But I thought it was very good.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And you mentioned Richland was a government town. Do you remember any special community events--parades, any of those sorts of things during that period?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX91453010">
<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Not too many</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">being a government town, why, you did the job that you had to do. Well, they did have this music</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">group that had opera singers and plays that you could go to and take part in choruses, singing. So I did join the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Richland Light Opera Team for maybe one year and did a little singing there. But that was only for a few months,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">until I met my wife, and then I lost interest in singing.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And at some point, Richland I guess, gains independence, I guess, or whatever you want to say. Do you</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> r</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">emember anything about that period and that process at all?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, that was around 1957 when </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">that happened. And being in a B </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">house, which meant there was a family on</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">each side, the people that were there ahead of us had the opportunity to buy the house, but they didn't want to</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">buy it, so they asked us if we wanted to buy it. Well, didn't have enough money to buy anything, so we said, no.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So they went ahead and bought it, and we just stayed there. The rent for the General Electric time was $37.50 a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">month, and we continued paying that for about a year, and then it went up to about $50 a month. But that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">was still pretty reasonable at that time.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So you mentioned you star</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ted as a clerk typist in the K A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rea, right? At some point you moved in to Health Physics.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Is that right?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yes.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">How did that happen, and when did that happen?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, by the time my year was up as a clerk typist, I had a chance to move into a job at a little bit of pay. The job</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">was called field assistant, b</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ut it was </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">half clerical typing job, and the other half of the day would be radiation</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">time-keeper following J</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. Jones personnel</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> around, minor cons</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">truction, keeping time on them—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">radiation time in</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">radiation zones to make sure that these construction workers didn't receive more than 300 MR in a seven-day</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">period.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Because </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">in those days, although we had d</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">osimeter pencils, they were not the self-reading kind where you could</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">just look up</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> at</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> the light. What they would do is at the end of the day, you would drop your badge and pencils in a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> rack, in this case, 200 West A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rea and then go home for the night.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, they had </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">what they called pencil girls</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> that would come out on swing shift, and they would collect these</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">badge and pencils, and they would read these pencils. They had a manometer upstairs above the guard house,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">and they would stick these pencil in the manometer. It would read how much radiation it had collected. Then</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they'd put them back with the badge and put them back in the rack. So the next morning when you came, you'd</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">pick them up again.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Well,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> my time as a radiation time-keeper was up to me to keep track with pencil and paper about how long they</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">could stay in the radiation zones, depending on how high the radiation dose was. As a radiation time-keeper, we'd</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">accompany radiation monitors</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they called them Health Physics Technicians</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">everywhere the construction guys</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">went. And they would tell us the reading, and we would calculate how many minutes they could work in that zone.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And then when they would leave that zone and go to another one, then we'd calculate that. So we did that for the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> full eight</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> hours a day. Well, at least four hours a day. Half the day I might spend as a clerk typist writing up</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">construction schedules for the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">we had a General Electric engineer and also a J</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Jones engineer. So they would</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">write up the schedules, and I would type them up for the first half of the day, and the second half of the day, I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">would go keep time on the guys in the </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">radiation zones for about half a day.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I did that from 1954 to 1959, and then I had a chance to transfer into radiation monitoring, which I did. And I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">worked in that job from '59 until I retired in '93.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Oh, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nd so when you moved to radiation monitoring, what did that mean in terms of your sort of everyday</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">job? What sorts of different things would you be doing?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, we woul</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">d go with the operations personne</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">l, like operators or maintenance people, and accompany them on</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">jobs and find out how much radiation was in the area, and then go in there with them and stay with them, in a lot</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">of cases, as long as they were in the zone. And then sometimes we could set the job up if the radiation was not</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">going to increase or decrease, then we would leave the job.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">But oftentimes we would have to stay with them because they would move from one place to another. So we were</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">kind of following construction people and operations engineers</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">everybody that had to go in a radiation zone.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">We'd either go ahead of time and check the readings off and take smears</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">some floor smears and air samples</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">and that sort of thing</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">to make sure they were within the limits of a the Hanford project.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So you worked in various places throughout the site.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, I worked at</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eventually over the period of time, I was in that job at all nine reactors at the Hanford project.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And also I worked th</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ree separations buildings, PUREX 200 East Area, D Plant in 200 East A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rea, and also at the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> REDOX</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. When I was a radiation time-keeper, partly I kept time on the construction people because they were</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">building a crane viewi</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ng room in the REDOX</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, so I did work there also as part of my job as a time-keeper.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And I imagine, given the number of years that you worked there, that were a number of contractors that you</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">worked for over the years.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, General Electric left about 1965, so about that time I had a chan</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ce to transfer over to the 200 A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">reas at an</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">outfit called Isochem had the contract. And they only did that for about a year or two, when they left and turned</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">their work over to Atlantic Richfield. And Atlantic Richfield did it eventually until Westinghouse eventually took over.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">In between those periods there, I also worked at Douglas Labs, which is out on North George Washington Way.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And I did the same type of work, except I also was taught how to irradiate TLD badges because TLDs took over</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">the place from film badges. So I would issue these badges for all workers for Douglas Labs, which was, at that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">time, probably less</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> than</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> 100 people.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And I worked at that from about '73 until '76, when Exxon bought the building for Douglas Labs, and then I worked</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">for them for about another couple three years. So actually I was gone from the Hanford project for about five</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">years there, roughly</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">two and a half for Exxon, and two and a half for Douglas Labs.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Okay, okay. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Now, at some point, the mission of the site changed from production to clean up. Did that impact your job in terms</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">of radiation monitoring in anyway, and if so, how so?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: Yeah, some things did, all right. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">bout 1987, all the re</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">actors were shut down except N R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor. And then they decided to shut</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> N R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor down '87. But they still had a lot of fuel elem</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ents left in the basement at N R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor. Sometimes they</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">would shi</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">p those few elements over to K A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">reas for storage. But they needed to be processed to make plutonium.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Even though they were going to quit making plutonium, they should've dissolved these fuel elements and got rid of</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">them. Instead they just let them store in the K areas for several years. And that was too bad</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> because eventually K</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">reas had to get those </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">fuel elements out of there and send what's left of them ove</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">r to T Plant, what they call T P</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">lant</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">now, for storage of some of the stuff that's left.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So it</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> made a difference in the kind of radiation monitoring you did. You didn't have to go into operating reactor</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">buildings. Eventually, I transferred into what they call a D&D group, which was Decontamination and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Decommissioning, which meant I went around to all of the old shut</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">down reactors with operators. Well, they were</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">called D&D workers at this time.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">We would go with them and make sure that there was no radiation around, take smears of the floor. About the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">only thing left in them would be radon, so we'd check for that. Sometimes we'd run onto a rattlesnake in these old</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">shut down buildings. And one that really surprised once</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">we went to 105 C R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor, and we saw this rattlesnake</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">curled up underneath an old maintenance room. And the operator said, darn, the last time I killed rattlesnake, the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">environmentalists </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">really got on to me. I says, okay. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, it was on Friday afternoon, so I said</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">we had a radio, of course. So I said, I'll go out in the radio car and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">radio the office and see what the supervisor wants to do. So I did, but the supervisor had left </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">early to go to</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> town,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">so the assistant was there. I say, what do you want us to do with this rattle</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">snake? We hadn't killed him yet. [LAUGHTER] A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nd I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">took a camera with me from the pickup. And he says, well, use your own judgment.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, our judgment is we're going to run into that thing again in a month from now, and I didn't want him to be</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">surprised and bite me. So I took a shovel in with me, and I handed it to the operator and says, do you want to kill</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">him, or do you want me to do it? He says, I'll do it.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So he took the shovel and whacked the head off of this thing. So after a few minutes there we got ready to leave.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">He scooped up the head on a shovel and carried the tail with his hand</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. And he went on outside to C Re</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">actor, and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">he threw the tail over </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">the roadway out into the desert</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. But the head, he laid down on the concrete there in front of</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> the entrance to C R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">He says, let me dig a hole here to bury this head. We didn't want a coyote or something to eat that head and die</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">of rattlesnake poison. So while he was digging that hole, one of the other D&D operators, who had a safety-toed</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">boot on, took his boot and gradually moved it up towards that head, and this was after that thing had been killed</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> for about ten</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> or 15, 20 minutes.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And that snake, much to our surprise, his head came up about six inches off the ground, came down, and his</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">teeth had latched around fangs on that guy's boot and snagged the top of it for about an inch. And man, I'll tell</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">you, the three of us looked at each other and says, did you see what I saw? We had never seen that before or</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">heard of it. So that surprised us to no extent. So anyhow, that was one of the exciting jobs.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: That’s quite a story. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">What a surprise. Yeah, wow. So I was going to ask you</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">you</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> were involved with a lot of radiation monitoring. So if</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">a worker was exposed too much, their pencil or whatever showed</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">what happened at that point then for the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">worker?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, we had a limit of 300 MR</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> per</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> seven-day period, and as a radiation time-keeper, when the worker reached that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">point, why</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> we would go in and pull him out of the zone and tell him, that's it for the week</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">300 per week. Also, we</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">had a limit of 50 MR per day to start with. So whenever they reached 50 for that day, we would pull them out. The</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">next day they'd go in for another 50. But they would do that until they got 300 in a seven-day period.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">In reading the informat</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ion from an interview you did ten</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> years ago or so, it talked about that you had been involved</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">in creating a tube that was uses to pinpoint the area of contamination. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, we had what we called a P-11 probe, a Geiger counter. And what we did was</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> in a process of surveying our</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">people, this P-11 probe was about two, two and a half inches in diameter. I think I've </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">got a copy of it. Anyhow, I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">would lay this piece of paper down on whatever was contaminated. If it was the bottom of a shoe, we would</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">survey that shoe and find the hottest spot on that shoe, and then we would mark it, a pencil mark around the P-11</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">probe.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So it was a round circle for the </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">hottest spot. And then I would—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">in my days as field artillery in the army, I used to be</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">work on fire direction center. So we would be fire forward and fire backwards. I thought, well, maybe I could use</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">this P-11 probe like that. So I got the hot spot, and then I would move the P-11 probe down, and then I would</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">draw a circle around it</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">below it.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And then I would go back and find the hot spot and move it to the right, and move it until the radiation went away.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Then I would draw a circle around that. Then I would take it up above and do the same thing there and off the left</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">-</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">hand</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">side. So when I got through, I had a spot in the center of it about the size of your thumbnail, and that would</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">tell us where the hotspot was on the bottom of the shoe or whatever you were decontaminating.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So that saved you some time in decontaminating. Like on the bottom of a shoe you'd use sandpaper or emery</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">cloth, something like that to clean it off, or masking tape or duct tape. So that kind of helped me anyhow</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">just</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">tools of the trade.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Right, and when did you develop that? What time frame would that have been?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Probably around 1970. At that time, I was going over to CBC. I used to be a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">n</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">wards chairman for </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">the </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Health</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Physics </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Society years ago, and my job was to contact the instructor for a nuclear technology class for the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">CBC and find out who we could give a scholarship to</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">$500 or something like that. So this guy called me up one</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">day. He says, Bob, we need to have somebody in your group to come over and give radiation monitoring classes</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">to our students because they were learning how to be operators in the reactor buildings or radiation technicians.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I said, sure, I could do that. He had gotten</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> his experience from the Navy. H</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">e was a Health Physics technician, or</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they called them something else in the Navy. And he says, we need somebody over here to help them out and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">teach them. Could you do that, or could you find somebody? I says, yeah, I could probably do that.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I contacted my manager, and after six months or a year, they give me permission to go over there and do that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">about once a month. So I would go teach you one or two hours in the morning and another one or two hours in</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">the afternoon. So that's what I thought about this thing here, which I had done out of work</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">finding little hotspots</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">and then bringing them down to a small area. So that's about the time that I was doing that, and so I passed it on</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">to the students so they would know, too.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So it was sort of the teaching the students that led you to sort of thinking about that and developing that process?</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, some of those students</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">in the summertime we would hire maybe five or six of them to come out </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">at N R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">as interns for the summer</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> because we were shut down for about a month or so for all the repairs and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">stuff. So we'd hire some of these students to come out and go </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">round with us and learn jobs. So</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> at the end of that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">summer, if the company wanted to hire some of them, they could hire one or two or all six of them. So that kind of</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">worked out good for both of them.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And then they shut that teaching job down several years ago because the contractors at Hanford quit hiring</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">people because we were starting to shut down reactors and laying people off. So if there's no need for them, then</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they quit teaching it. But then here, about two years ago, they started up that program again.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I don't have anything to do with it. But they do teach them now three jobs, either a radiation operator type job or</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">health physics technician type job or as an instrument technician job. They can go three different ways, so that's a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">good program at CBC right now. It's kind of like nuclear technology. It's a two-year program.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And about how long did you teach classes?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: About ten</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> years, from about 1970 until about 1980.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: Mm-hm. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And in reading about this, it sounded like you also were instrumental in developing a scholarship program at CBC?</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, I noticed th</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">at we always had white persons. T</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">here was never any blacks</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> and not even many Latinos either.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So one day I asked Larry, I said, how come we don't ever have any Afro-Americans in here? He says he didn't</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">know. So I went to the guy in charge of Afro-Americans over there hiring people, and he says he didn't know.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And I thought, well, probably the reason is they were just like I was when I was getting out of high school. I didn't</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">have any money to go to college. So I says, maybe we should start up</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">maybe the college could do something.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I thought, well, we ought to have an auction.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> we had an auction there at CBC,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> and we had all the kids in the class bring thing</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">s to donate and put out to sell. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nd we advertised it, sent information around to a bu</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nch of companies. And I met</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> about seven or eight</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">companies to see if they wanted to donate equipment for it, which they did. But the day of auction came along,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">and I don't think we even had six people show up to buy anything. So, I says, well, we'll leave this equipment here,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">and CBC can have an auction some other time and maybe they'll collect more money, which they did.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">However, we had a guy that was pretty high up in the company for Westinghouse, and he was attending meetings</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">over there. And one day I went to the building over there, and I saw all these, three or four or five other</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">companies, not Westinghouse, that had plaques up on the wall that they donated $5,000 from one company,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">$10,000 for another company for scholarships. And so one day, we had a fellow that was pretty high up in</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Westinghouse stop by our building out there for a safety meeting one day. I says, we're going to have an auction,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">and it would be nice if Westinghouse could donate some money towards this thing and hire these minorities.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So he took that information into the vice preside</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nt of Westinghouse, and they </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">okayed</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> it.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> And I says, it'd be nice if</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">we had four $1,000 scholarships to give to these kids. So they came up with that for that year. However, the next</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">year, they came up with $28,000 for scholarships. So that was</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">the guy who was in charge of all safety for</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Westinghouse at the time sent me a no</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">te and said this was coming off. S</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">o that made me feel pretty good that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Westinghouse did do that because all these other companies had done something. But they followed through with</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">it, which was great.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So you worked at Hanford from the 1950s into '93. Is that what you said?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">With some years in between there when you weren't.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Right, from about</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">well, at Hanford from '53 until '93, but I was a radiation monitor from '59 until '93.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Did the technology change quite a bit in terms of radiation monitoring over those years, and if so, how did it</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">change?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, yeah, they got better instrumentation down at</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Battelle</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> did some of our reading of our badges and this sort</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">of thing. So their instrumentat</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ion got better as the years went along. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nd the same with our Geiger counters. They</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> went</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> from the old style to ones with P-11 probe. Nowadays, I'm not sure they even have a P-11 probe. It might</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">be two long probes that they could use either one for beta</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> gamma and alpha. Before, we just had the P-11 probe</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">for Geiger counter, and for an alpha meter, we had the probe for alpha</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">two separate ones. So yeah, the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">instrumentation did change.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I was also going to ask you during years</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">well, Hanford was obviously—emphasized</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> security, and I was wondering,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">especially when you started in the 1950s, what that was like in terms of security? Did you have to have special</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">clearance? When you went to the site, did you have to go through special security or anything along those lines?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, I did. When they originally told me, while I was still the Army, there would be several weeks for them to</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> check on my clearance, I thought, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, several weeks. Well, as it got closer to discharge time, I thought, man,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they haven't contacted me, so I better go down to Fort Lewis and check on civil service jobs. So I did, and I had</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">qu</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">alified for two jobs. One was</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> a warehouse</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">man</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> because I had worked six years in a grocery store, and the other</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">job was a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> billing, clerk typist, in the transportation d</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">epartment.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I stayed there from December of '52 </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">‘til June of '53. B</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ut I got so tired of driving the fog and the rain over there</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">around Fort Lewis and Seattle-Tacoma area that I just got sick of it. I had an old 1940 Ford. The heater didn't</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">work, and the defroster didn't work either. So I'd have to drive about half way out and scrape the ice off the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">outside and the inside.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And one day, I was cleaning out the back of it, and I saw all this mold in the backseat. I said, holy cow, the thing</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> didn't warm up enough to dry</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> that o</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ut. So finally I decided, well—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I was kind of disgusted with General Electric for</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">not notifying me. So although I didn't want to go back to Kansas because my mother and stepfather didn't get</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">along too good. They fought like cats and dogs, and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> under no condition,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> no way did I want to live in the same house with them.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So put off of going back there. I could have gone back to Pittsburg, Kansas, where the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">y</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> had a four-year college</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">there. I could have lived at home, but I didn't want to stay there. So finally, I thought,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> well,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> I'm going to write General</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Electric a note. I didn't cuss them out or anything, but I wrote some wording on there that said, I thought you guys</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">were honest in your estimations of how long it was going to take for this, but it's been so long. You said several</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">weeks, and it's been several months.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I put t</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">hat letter and mailed in my out</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">box at Fort Lewis, Washington. And when I got home that night, I found a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">letter in the mailbox from the General Electric Company and it said, from Zane</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Wood. H</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">e says, Bob, you've waited</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">long enough for a job. We're ready for you now, so you</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> can come on over. So I says, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, I'll give my boss two</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">weeks</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">’ </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">notice and come on over, so I did. But I was</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">clearances took an awful long time in those days.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And when you started working, did you drive your car on site? Were you able to do that, or did you have to take a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">bus, or how did that work?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">No, they had bus service around Richland that you could take buses down the sort of streets, and then you'd</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">catch</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">we were leaving at the B </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">house, so a bus would come by within about a block, so I'd catch my bus there,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">take it to the bus lot, and then we would</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> get on the bus that went to K A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rea. And so I would get in there, pay a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nickel for a ride out and a nickel to ride back home, and this was 1953.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I did that until I went into the radiation time-keeper job</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, and we had buses to 200 West A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rea then, all the areas,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">but you still just dropped a nickel in when you went in and a nickel when you came out. So I caught the buses</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">there also. So mainly buses</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they didn't get rid of the buses until about a year after I retired.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I know President Kennedy visi</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ted the site in 1963 for the N R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor dedication. I wondered if you were here at the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">time, and were you on the site that day?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Yeah, I was here at that time. I had two boys and a girl, so</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">and the wife. We loaded up in my station wagon and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> drove out to N R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ea</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ctor and was there for his talk. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nd that was</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I think there was about 40,000 people out there,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">too, so it took us an hour to get out of there with so many people. But </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">that was an interesting time. I also went to</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Battelle</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> one time when President Nixon came out here </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">to dedicate something to Battelle</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. So I was able to see</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">both presidents that way.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Do you have</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">were there ever any events that sort of stand out in your mind</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> period of time working there</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> or any</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">incidents of any kind or accidents or any sort of events that stand out in your mind from your years working at</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Hanford?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, one thing that kind of </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">surprised me—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">about the time I was to retire i</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">n 1993, I used to go over to B R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">whenever they would have out-of-the-</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">country people for a tour of B R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">eactor. My manager at that time said that he</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">would like for me to be in on the tours because I used to work there when it was an operating reactor. So in case they ask him, well, what was is equipment used for or that one, I could tell them a little bit about it.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I went over there once with about five or six Russians, and they wanted to look at B, so they were looking</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">around there. So finally, one of them spoke up and said, well, since you're about to retire here in a few months,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">what's your lifetime radiation exposure? I say</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">s it's 66 rem. And he says, aha! M</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ine's 600.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> knew—I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> figured they took a lot more radiation. I thought to myself, man, you must have been at Chernobyl or something.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">But they took a lot more than what we were all</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">owed here at Hanford. Our limit—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">o</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">fficial—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">was 5 rem per year, to not</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">include more than 3 R gamma. But they had a lot more over in Russia.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">What were some of the more challenging aspects of working at Hanford?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, sometimes as a radiation monitor, you were the only person that knew much about radiation and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">contamination on a job, so it was up to us. We had a limit of 15-mile per hour speed limit on wind. So it was always</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">up to the monitor to decide whether or not to shut a job down or not. And I thought, man, that's a big</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">responsibility, because some these jobs are pretty important.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I carried around a wind gauge underneath the seat of the pickup. And I thought, well, if necessary, I'll get that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">wind gauge out. Because it got so I could take a look at sagebrush, a light piece a sagebrush. I would take the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">wind gauge out and watch when the wind blow to see when that sagebrush would roll. And I thought, well, that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">thing's going to roll maybe 17 mile an hour, and the bigger piece of sagebrush would take a little more wind.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I had this wind gauge out at one job, and the wind was 16 miles an hour, so I shut the job down. Well, that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">went over like a l</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ead balloon with the rigging</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> supervisor. We were on a diversion box, BX tank farm. And he</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">says, I'm </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">going to call up your boss, Bob. S</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">o he did, and my boss came out.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">By then, the wind had stopped, but I hadn't said anything about you could go back to work. And he says, Bob, how</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">come you shut the job down? I says, well, it says on R</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">N</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">WP 15 miles an hour. Here's the wind gauge</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">16. He says,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">well, it doesn't look like it's blowing now. I says, well, it's not. As far I'm concerned, they can start working again, so</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they did.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">But every once in a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">while, you would be challenged. Once again I was challenged. I was working with the D&D</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">group. We were at 100 K burial ground. Sometimes the waste in the burial ground will either travel down deeper,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">or sometimes they could go up, or they can go to the left or to the right over a period of time.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> And we had a car—w</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">e had one monitor that would drive this SUV-type instrument around where it has radiation</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> detectors on the front bumper. And he would drive over to the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> tank farm. Whenever it would have a spot above the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">limits, like the limits on the tank farm are maybe 100 counts a minute above background. Well, whenever he hit</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">this limit, why, it would alarm.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So they notified our group that they needed to go in and lay some more dirt down, so they did. They were doing</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">this job, putting more dirt on top of the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> other</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> dirt. And this engineer</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they were running out of money for these truck</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">driver</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">s</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> to do that. And he says to my boss in radiation monitoring, he says</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">we have to radiation monitors</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">checking the tires of these </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">trucks that were coming and going. And says, why not check every truck coming in and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">out, going in and out? Why not every other truck or maybe only two tires instead of all four?</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> And I said, no, we</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> can't do that. Because we had run into </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">exactly that same problem at N Area once. It wasn't me, i</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">t</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">was another radiation monitor. He had decided on zone that I'm going to start checking every other truck. Well,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">one of these trucks cam</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">e up with hot tires from the N A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rea place, and he tracked contamination down the highway</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">a ways, and that's not good.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I says, well, I'm not going to do that. So the engineer was so mad, he went up to my supervisor. And I guess</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">my supervisor took word over to the manager of radiation protec</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">tion for all of the 100 A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">reas at that time. And</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">some</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">where there, my supervisor had told me tha</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">t, Bob, don't survey every tire, just s</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">urvey some of them. And I was</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">so mad at that, I said to myself, I can't do that.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">We go through a certification program that you don't compromise the situation. So I was all set to go back to work,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">but I was going to check all four tires. And just before I left, my supervisor came back and said, our top manager</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">says, keep doing it the way you have</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">surveying all four tires, so we did. So once in a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">while, you'd run out of</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">money on a job, why, upper management wants to change things, and you can</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">'t do that if you're—why, </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">had resisted that. I figured I might get laid off or fired or something, but it didn't come to that point, thank</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">goodness.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So then, what were some more rewarding aspects of your job and working at Hanford?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, one rewarding thing was the scholarships </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">that </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">the We</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">stinghouse came up with. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nd the other rewarding job was</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">just you knew in your own mind whenever you were doing something right, and there was always a temptation to</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">take shortcuts, but a good monitor never did</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. B</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ecause we had friends did try that, and they got into trouble so.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">One time I got to note from two former operators I used to work with, and he said</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I had</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> been long retired since</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">then, and they were</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> working</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> as ministers, and they sent me a note that said </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they had appreciated my job as</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> radiation</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">monitoring, that I was different than some of the others. Some of them seemed to not try to get along with other</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">people, operators, and tried to be too rigid. And they thought that I had tried to do the right thing. So that made</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">me feel pretty good, that even though you sometimes wonder, I thought that I did a good enough job.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So overall, how would you describe or assess Hanford as a place to work?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">I think it's a real good place. There are times when some people think that Hanford is</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">because it's got the most</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">contamination the country, probably because we also made most of the weapons for Hanford, probably 65% or so</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">of all the source of the bomb</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">’s material. A</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nd I thought that people were trying to do badmouth the plant here too</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">much.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">They also tried to badmouth Hanfo</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">rd DOE—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">or AEC, they called it in those days. But I didn't see it that way,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">because they were always trying to follow rules and regulations, and I thought they did a good job, and I thought</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Hanford overall did a good job.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">My students now, some of them anyway, were born after the Cold War ended. So they have no memory of the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Cold War. They don't know much about it. I guess especially for people who are that young that really have no</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">memory, what sorts of things would you like them to know about Hanford or working there?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, I think they need to know that, like I do, that I thought that Hanford did a good job of controlling radiation and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">the spread of it, because that was my job was to be one of the monitors out there watching these things and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">following the rules and regulations. So since I had a job in controlling it, I knew what was supposed to happen and</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">what did happen. So I got to</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> feel like most all the percentage of the time</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">,</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Hanford did a pretty good job of it.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Is there anything I haven't asked you about that you'd like to talk about or any specific memories, things that you'd</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">like to talk about that you haven't talked about yet?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, yeah there's one of them that kind of bothered me a little bit. Back in 1966, we had a strike here at Hanford.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And being in </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">the radiation monitoring group—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">that was a union job. So we went on strike for about six weeks.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">During that time, I worked as a kind of </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">a</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> electrician helper down in California. California could not get enough</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">electricians to work in their jobs. All their local people were busy, so they called around the country to get other</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">electricians.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, they wanted 20 from Han</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ford, but they could only get ten. So they says, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, we'll take five instrument</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">technicians and five radiation monitors, since we all belong to the same union. However, those radiation monitors</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">have to have worked around electricians for at least a year, so they could help out as a helper.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So my union steer </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">called up one day and said, Bob, do you want to come by and drop your name in the</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">hat and see if it gets drawn out for five guys to go down to Californian? I says, sure, so I did. And luckily enough I</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">did, so I was down there for, well, it was a six-week strike.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">The first week we just stayed home. The next five weeks I worked dow</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">n there. Well, when I got back—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">we would</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">get these bottles, urine bottles, because they wanted to bring everybody up to date. Well, I'd been gone for six</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">weeks, so I put my urine bottle out in front for the truck driver to pick up. Well, he picked it up</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, but a couple, </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">three days later he came back again with some more of them.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">So I asked, well, how come I got some more urine bottle</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">s</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> here? He says, well</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">--</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">he shouldn't have told me this</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">bec</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ause he's just a truck driver—b</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ut he says, well, I've had to redeliver several extra bottles around to different</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">people</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">. B</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ecause t</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">here was one guy over to 234-5 B</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">uilding, where they were making plutonium buttons, that had</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">gotten into an incident and gotten real contaminated. And they thi</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">nk that the bottles were washed—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">for me to do my</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> sample in—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">well, mine were washed in the same batch that his were, and they cross-contaminated to my bottles.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">But that's just a rumor, t</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">hey don't know for sure.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, I did get notified by my manage</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">r at that time that I was giving</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> an extra 5 rem of radiation because of those</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">urine bottles. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">And I called him up and I says—</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">B</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ill</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> Mc</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Murray was my manager. I says, Bill, I wasn't even here at that</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">time. How can I get t</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">hat? He says, well, Bob, Battelle</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> had done a lot of updating of their equipment, so maybe</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">they got more sensitive equipment now than th</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ey did six weeks ago. I said, okay</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">, Bill, whatever.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">But anyhow, they put that on my record, and it's been there ever since. They wouldn't take it off. So that kind of</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">miffed me a little bit. That's one of the things you learn to put up with.</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"> [LAUGHTER]</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: All right. </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Anything else that you'd like to share, any other stories or memories?</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: Well, let's see. N</span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">ot offhand. Things went pretty smooth, as far as I was concerned.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, I want to thank you for coming in today and sharing your stories and your experiences. I appreciate it.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Smith</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Well, you're welcome, my pleasure.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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<p class="Paragraph SCX91453010"><span class="TextRun SCX91453010"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bauman</span>: </span><span class="TextRun SCX91453010">Thanks.</span><span class="EOP SCX91453010"> </span></p>
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Location
The location of the interview
Washington State University - Tri-Cities
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
00:52:37
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
224 kbps
Hanford Sites
Any sites on the Hanford site mentioned in the interview
K Area
100-K Area
200 West Area
PUREX 200 East Area
D Plant
200 Area
N Area
100 Area
K-West Reactor
N Reactor
105 C Reactor
C Reactor
B Reactor
Years in Tri-Cities Area
Date range for the interview subject's experience in and around the Hanford site
1953-2013
Years on Hanford Site
Years on the Hanford Site, if any.
1953-1993
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Bob Smith
Description
An account of the resource
An interview with Bob Smith conducted as part of the Hanford Oral History Project. The Hanford Oral History Project was sponsored by the Mission Support Alliance and the United States Department of Energy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hanford Oral History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
7/16/2013
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Those interested in reproducing part or all of this oral history should contact the Hanford History Project at ourhanfordhistory@tricity.wsu.edu, who can provide specific rights information for this item.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
Date Modified
Date on which the resource was changed.
2016-06-24: Metadata v1 created – [J.G.]
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
The Hanford Oral History Project operates under a sub-contract from Mission Support Alliance (MSA), who are the primary contractors for the US Department of Energy's curatorial services relating to the Hanford site. This oral history project became a part of the Hanford History Project in 2015, and continues to add to this US Department of Energy collection.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Richland (Wash.)
Hanford Site (Wash.)
Hanford (Wash.)
Nuclear weapons plants--Health aspects--Washington (State)--Hanford Site Region
Nuclear instruments & methods
100 Area
100-K Area
105 C Reactor
200 Area
200 West Area
B Reactor
C Reactor
D Plant
Hanford (Wash.)
K Area
K-West Reactor
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
N Area
N Reactor
PUREX 200 East Area
Richland (Wash.)