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Published in The Oak Ridge Observer
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Jack Case: Building Y-12 for the Cold War
This seventh installment in the history of Jack Case - namesake for the Jack Case Center – tells the story of how he prepared Y-12 to become the world’s leading and most precise machine shop – one that could lead the way toward eventually winning the Cold War. Who ever thought that one manufacturing facility in a place called Bear Creek Valley in Oak Ridge, Tennessee would ultimately have such a significant and worldwide impact twice! Little Boy to help end World War II and then with Herculean effort produce so many nuclear weapons secondaries to result in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the defeat of Communism in the Soviet Union!
The following was sent from Los Alamos National Laboratory to be read at Jack Case’s retirement:
To: Jack M. Case, Manager Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant
Those of us who have spent a substantial period of time in the nuclear business think of the Y-12 Plant as the real image of “getting the job done.” In a large measure, this feeling comes from the kind of direction and leadership that Jack Case provides and inspires. Regardless of the complexity and long-term schedule vagaries of our business, Jack gets to the heart of the difficulty and when convinced the problem warrants direct attention, no on in the entire complex has any doubts but that it gets the best of our resources and effort.
Jack, we at Los Alamos feel that we go back a long way together with memories of tough, almost impossible tasks developed and executed on even more impossible time scales. For those of us who have already (or are about to) perform the “step aside” maneuver, we thank you for what you have meant to our way of life for the past 37 years. Max Roy sends his special regards.
I had hoped to join you for the occasion but I am committed to a similar function on January 30.
Best Ever,
Jay Wechsler, WX Division Leader
In many ways, Jack Case recognized the vital nature of what was needed to be done at Y-12 to sustain the country’s need for nuclear weapons after World War II and when Russia began to build and explode their own nuclear weapons. It was apparent that Russia was intent upon taking the lead in this very new and virtually unknown field. That was not acceptable to the United States government. The nuclear weapons program was called upon to take giant steps and was expected to perform flawlessly in the creation of, the testing of and the deployment of thermonuclear weapons as quickly as possible.
While Jack Case and the others who were sent to Los Alamos in 1947 to bring back the information necessary to produce additional uranium and plutonium bombs, it soon become evident that Russia was not limiting themselves to those type weapons. Larger and larger yields were being created in each new bomb. The “Cold War” weapons race was on almost as quickly as Y-12 determined how to produce nuclear weapons components. Jack Case saw it coming. He began almost immediately to prepare Y-12 for the future demands of the Cold War. In his various positions over the years as he was moving up through the ranks to become the Plant Manager, he was known as a very productive employee and one who led the way to solutions to difficult problems. Jack managed several of Y-12’s main organizations as superintendent prior to his top manager role.
From the early efforts at Y-12 to manufacture nuclear weapons using uranium components to the additional special materials required to produce the more powerful thermonuclear weapons, Y-12 was a major production element in the nuclear weapons complex. Hundreds of specialized machine tools were purchased and modified for use at Y-12. Many of the machine tools were computerized with enhanced capability, extremely high accuracy and tolerances beyond anything available anywhere else in the world. Y-12 maintained and often established the state-of-the-art in machining technology. Much of this advance in capability was accomplished under the leadership of Jack Case. The often-mentioned “can do” attitude of Y-12 was well known throughout the Nuclear Weapons Complex.
There is a story told about a specific weapons part that Los Alamos scientists wanted Y-12 to produce. Jack Case is said to have told them Y-12 could produce it as quick as they needed it regardless of the timeframe. The scientists felt the part could be designed and manufactured in approximately one month of joint design and manufacturing effort. Jack Case decided that by Y-12 doing its own design and manufacture of the specialized part the time could be reduced considerably. In fact, the weapon part was designed AND produced overnight! That was astounding to the Los Alamos scientists and proved to add considerably to the confidence the weapons design labs came to have for Y-12.
As the Cold War continued and the need grew for additional and new weapons systems, after the uranium mission came to Y-12, the next major change in mission and addition to Y-12’s overall capability was the separation of lithium. Y-12 was again chosen because of availability of the huge empty space of the large buildings that had housed the Calutrons now that the Calutrons had been removed and the 14,700 tons of silver returned to the U. S. Treasury. The lithium separation processes at Y-12 were designed and construction begun in 1950 and the huge systems were operational by 1953. The Russians exploded their first thermonuclear device on August 12, 1953.
In March 1954, the U. S. tested its first deliverable thermonuclear weapon at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It might be of interest to note that the very first test of a nuclear device after World War II was conducted at Bikini Atoll on June 30, 1946. Five days later, on July 5, 1946, French fashion designer, Louis Reard, created a scandal by unveiling his latest creation, the bikini bathing suit. It consisted of our tiny triangles of fabric and a handful of string. The Vatican denounced the suit as immoral, and it was prohibited in Spain and Italy. Reard chose the name bikini because it was “an explosive fashion.”
Just about the time Jack Case was beginning his tenure at Y-12 Plant Manager, the large metal case manufacturing was added to Y-12’s uranium machining and lithium separation missions. In 1962 all uranium machining in the nuclear weapons complex was consolidated at Y-12. This came about primarily because of the efforts Y-12 had made to achieve and maintain a reputation second to none.
The next installment of this history series will contain stories about Jack Case that have been shared with me by present employees at Y-12 who recall Jack’s low gravelly voice and distinct leadership for so many years. Anyone who has stories they would like see published as a part of the Jack Case history series, please contact me at SmithDRay.
D. Ray Smith
1/20/06 |
