Tennessee

Covered Facilities

(SEC) = The Special Exposure Cohort. This is a defined category of employees established under EEOICPA. The SEC is comprised of classes of employees who have at least one of the 22 SEC cancers and have worked for a specific period of time at one of the SEC facilities. Claims compensated under the SEC do not have to go through the dose reconstruction process, as is required for other cancer claims covered by EEOICPA.

• 1: Clinton Engineer Works, Oak Ridge (SEC)

  In 1943, the US government purchased 59,000 acres near Knoxville, Tennessee to build production plants and laboratories for the atomic bomb project. This facility, known as Oak Ridge, was bounded by security fences from 1943 to 1949. Within Oak Ridge were processing plants, including Y-12, K-25, and X-10. During this time, Roane Anderson Company managed residences, apartments, dormitories, and more for Oak Ridge. The CEW gates came down in March 1949, but clearances were still required to enter the plants and laboratories. Privatization of Oak Ridge began in 1949.

• 2: Manufacturing Sciences Corporation, Oak Ridge

  Manufacturing Sciences Corporation is listed as a beryllium vendor under the EEOICPA program.

• 3: Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (K-25) (SEC)

  The K-25 gaseous diffusion plant was built in 1943 as part of the World War II Manhattan Project to supply enriched uranium for nuclear weapons production. It was the first diffusion facility for large-scale separation of uranium-235. The site was used primarily for the production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and the process was stopped permanently in 1987. Throughout the course of its operations, the potential for beryllium exposure existed at this site, due to beryllium use, residual contamination, and decontamination activities.

• 4: Oak Ridge Hospital (SEC)

  Originally an Army Hospital for Manhattan Project workers, this facility was operated by the Roane-Anderson Co. for the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1959, ownership of the hospital was privatized and its operation taken over by the Oak Ridge Hospital of the Methodist Church.

• 5: Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education (ORISE) (SEC)

  Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education (ORISE) for the U.S. Department of Energy. The South Campus Facility, previously known as the Agricultural Research Laboratory and Farm and Comparative Animal Research Laboratory (CARL), was established to study accidental irradiation of cattle during atomic bomb testing. 

• 6: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (X-10) (SEC)

  During the Manhattan project, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) site was used by the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory to construct the first test plant that would move the plutonium product process from the research stage to large scale production. A research facility designated as the Clinton Laboratories was built during the war to support X-10 reactor activities. Throughout the course of its operations, the potential for beryllium exposure existed at this site, due to beryllium use, residual contamination, and decontamination activities.

• 7: S-50 Oak Ridge Thermal Diffusion Plant (SEC)

  The S-50 Plant at Oak Ridge was constructed in 1944 to enrich uranium feed material for the Y-12 electromagnetic facility using a liquid thermal diffusion process. Located near the K-25 gaseous diffusion facility, the S-50 Plant operated for a limited period during 1944- 1945. The S-50 plant was reopened in 1946 as part of the joint Air Force/AEC project to investigate the possibility of developing a nuclear-powered airplane. This project included a number of experiments involving beryllium powder during the time period 1946-1951.

• 8: Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), Oak Ridge

  The Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) collects, preserves, and disseminates scientific and technical information (STI) from DOE R&D activities. It has been fulfilling this role since the 1940s. OSTI also provides public access to scholarly scientific publications resulting from DOE-funded research and manages the collection of all DOE STI through the DOE Scientific and Technical Information Program.

• 9: Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge (SEC)

  The Y-12 National Security Complex, previously known as the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, was part of the Manhattan Project. It processed uranium for the first atomic bomb, starting production in November 1943. Since then, it has expanded its activities to include uranium and lithium enrichment, isotope separation, and component fabrication. Y-12 has been a premier manufacturing facility for over 50 years in the DOE weapons complex.

• 10: Clarksville Modification Center (SEC)

  The Clarksville Modification Center was established in 1958 for the purpose of testing and modifying the components of nuclear weapons. It closed in September 1965 and its functions were transferred to Pantex and Burlington. Throughout the course of its operations, the potential for beryllium exposure existed at this site.

• 11: Vitro Corporation of America, Chattanooga

  “Vitro Corporation” of Chattanooga, TN performed beryllium work for Y-12 from 1959-1965 and produced thorium metal, thorium fluoride and thorium oxide. The current owner, W.R. Grace, purchased the site in 1965 and continued operations until 1983, but records do not reveal any weapons-based activity after 1968.

• 12: W.R. Grace, Erwin (SEC)

  The Davison Chemical Division of W.R. Grace Co. (later Nuclear Fuel Services) processed unirradiated uranium scrap for the Atomic Energy Commission, recovering enriched uranium for the nuclear weapons program. The company also worked with thorium, which was associated with their work for the civilian nuclear reactor industry and the naval reactors program.