{"id":197,"date":"2021-04-02T14:46:55","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T19:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magicmasterminds.com\/DonnaDVitucci\/?p=197"},"modified":"2021-04-18T19:40:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T00:40:17","slug":"hex-october-1956","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magicmasterminds.com\/DonnaDVitucci\/stories\/hex-october-1956\/","title":{"rendered":"HEX, OCTOBER 1956"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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HEX, OCTOBER 1956<\/h2>\n

by Donna D. Vitucci<\/p>\n

The industrial grandeur and glare of Fernald erased even the stars so that approaching the plant for third shift was like driving from a tunnel into the government\u2019s continuous daytime.\u00a0 Jeter entered the perimeter, showed his badge at the checkpoint, and parked his beloved Olds 88.\u00a0 He locked it and ran his hands over the smooth ragtop.\u00a0 At home, stars and moon were blotted out by clouds, but here overhead looked the same from one night to the next, with Fernald\u2019s glare reflected off God\u2019s firmament and onto buildings, machines, barreled product, and white-clothed employees.\u00a0 Jeter\u2019s hand at the cuff of his navy jacket looked ghostly as he pocketed the car keys and headed to the turnstiles.<\/p>\n

Plant Four housed ten ammonia dissociators in their own area called the Ammonia Dissociator Room, all boosting heat, all cracking the anhydrous ammonia under mother-fucking heat and pressure to use in converting UO3 to UO4.\u00a0 This Fernald-developed process, devised under the umbrella of the U.S. government, was secret.\u00a0 Everyone referred to the UO4 by its code name, Green Salt.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, Supervisor Harry Eschen had drummed his training like the good drill sergeant he\u2019d been, and the lingo set to playing like a record through Jeter\u2019s head each night he came on shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to crack anhydrous ammonia into hydrogen and nitrogen, and the way we do it is by letting in ammonia vapor and heating the sucker,\u201d Eshen had instructed.\u00a0 \u201cYou know the Tank Farm outside this building?\u00a0 All those babies store liquid ammonia.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to crank heat until the ammonia vaporizes, and the heat exchanger in the dissociator takes care of that.\u00a0 God-fearing heat, 1750 degrees, cooking it by the electric furnace that hugs around the catalyst chamber.\u00a0 Now if the temp dips below 1700, the ammonia flow is automatically cut off by the solenoid valve.\u00a0 So you\u2019re saved there by the mechanics of it, what the manufacturer built into the design of the dissociator itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eschen looked his trainees up and down \u2013Jeter and three other guys\u2014and he\u2019d lifted his eyebrows, daring them to Ask, just go on and ask me a question<\/em>.\u00a0 In their silence he emphasized, as if they didn\u2019t already get the gist of things:\u00a0 \u201cOur number one aim in Plant Four\u2019s the Green Salt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter had said then, \u201cWhat if something went wrong, or the temps or pressure got out of hand?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that\u2019s what you\u2019re <\/em>here for, isn\u2019t it, Burns?\u00a0 To stay on top of the process, reading and re-checking the gauges, and to use your eyes and nose.\u00a0 We ain\u2019t had nothing worse than a couple little fires, maybe when hydrogen escaped and ignited.\u00a0 Harmless burn-off.\u00a0 No loss in equipment or materials.\u00a0 Nobody hurt.\u00a0 Nothing to even call threatening.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tape in Jeter\u2019s memory hit all the chem operator high points, beginning to end, in the time it took to don his process-side \u201cwhites.\u201d\u00a0 He loped over to Four and started his rounds.\u00a0 First, he checked reads on all ten of the dissociators.\u00a0 They\u2019d hit a snag two nights ago when Number 4\u2019s heater wouldn\u2019t kick in.\u00a0 Only six of the dissociators were operating. Units 2 and 7 were shut down, and the heaters for 4 and 8, while up to temp, weren\u2019t being fed because liquid ammonia had been leaking from locations along the piping.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019d told Eschen of the leaks, and Eshen submitted a work request to Mechanical for repair.\u00a0 They must have come in the next day because last night when Jeter checked, Number 4\u2019s temp recorder chart read the required 1750 degrees.\u00a0 He opened the ammonia supply valve and closed the manual vent.<\/p>\n

He had an uncanny sense of when things weren\u2019t right.\u00a0 He tried determining Lydia\u2019s reasons over the last few months for shutting him out,\u00a0 but then he threw that over to focus on what required his eyes and ears.\u00a0 He had the next eight hours to worry over his wife.<\/p>\n

Okay.\u00a0 Even though he\u2019d followed the SOPs chapter and verse, he still tentatively reached and touched the outside of first the vaporizer and then the dissociator.\u00a0 They were both cold as a witch\u2019s tit, so he quick switched off the ammonia and reopened the manual vent.\u00a0 Everything checked out fine when he examined the instrument panel.\u00a0 He hated calling up Eshen, but this stumped him.<\/p>\n

Eschen\u2019s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie. \u201cMechanical\u2019s been working to replace the defective transformer.\u00a0 Meanwhile, didn\u2019t they tag that electrical control panel up the east end of the room?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter thought he checked there, didn\u2019t see any indication of work in progress or power shut off.\u00a0 He\u2019d been so busy trouble-shooting his family, maybe he did slip up.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll do another once-through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure enough.\u00a0 Jeter flipped the tag between his fingers and it swung back and forth on the pull loop to the transformer\u2019s door panel. He\u2019d spent the rest of last night\u2019s shift treading over every gauge and temperature reading, checking the outside warmth of each of the running dissociators.\u00a0 They were all firing at capacity.<\/p>\n

Denny Campbell, coming off second tonight, said to Jeter, as he was punching in, \u201cLooks like that Number 4\u2019s finally heating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter nodded. \u201cGreat.\u201d\u00a0 If something had slipped past him, it looked like it was all going to work out okay.<\/p>\n

When he completed the five-thirty check, he found\u2014what the hell?\u2013 the recorder-controller turned to the off<\/em> position.\u00a0 He switched it back on, felt his stomach plummet along with the temp recorder dropping from 1750 to 1000 degrees, the very minimum the chart could read.\u00a0 He paused, a sheen of sweat between him and his uniform, shuffling through his knowledge and experience.\u00a0 He resisted calling Eschen.\u00a0 He pushed the low temp reset button.\u00a0 On resetting ordinarily he\u2019d hear a surge of ammonia, but not this time. There should have been a low temp indicator but that wasn\u2019t lit either.\u00a0 He smelled ammonia.\u00a0 Not strong, but a definite tang.<\/p>\n

Ammonia wasn\u2019t the only Fernald danger.\u00a0 Other things could knock you on your ass, some with an identifying odor, others not. Uranium hexafluoride gas didn\u2019t smell, but when it was present you knew something wasn\u2019t right.\u00a0 They called it \u201chex.\u201d\u00a0 Everything at Fernald acquired a nickname.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019d walk through some hex and you\u2019d feel okay, but you\u2019d send the counter shooting off the charts up at Medical.\u00a0 Hex: a spell, a curse, some pretty bad juju.\u00a0 Jeter and his buddies were the canaries in the coal mine.\u00a0 Management\u2013 hell, even the government\u2013 didn\u2019t know what slept right now in the Miami River silt, in the guts of Knollman\u2019s dairy cows, in the lungs of guys in the Rolling Mill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all learning about this uranium together,\u201d Cliff Emminger would say, \u201cand ill-prepared for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, this dissociator problem turned Jeter a little jumpy.\u00a0 Third time he\u2019d had to buzz Eschen in as many days.<\/p>\n

Eschen said, \u201cCall the fucking electrician,\u201d and hung up.<\/p>\n

The guy answering up at Electrical said, \u201cI was there yesterday to check and it was working fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just telling you what my super told me: the heater needs to be checked. Eshen said get the electrician.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chuck Moorman, the guy from Electrical Jeter was getting to know on a personal basis, arrived at Plant Four and followed the steps required.<\/p>\n

Jeter was reading a different bank of gauges when Moorman, it seemed all too soon, was preparing to exit with his tools.\u00a0 Jeter raised his eyebrow as Moorman passed him, and the guy said, \u201cWhat can I tell you?\u00a0 It says it\u2019s operating.\u201d\u00a0 He sounded annoyed to be re-navigating the Green Salt maze.<\/p>\n

Jeter had his own maze he\u2019d been stumbling through.\u00a0 They\u2019d gotten Russ a dog.\u00a0 Russ, who more or less abandoned the pet as soon as he named it. The dog was the second child Lid couldn\u2019t have.\u00a0 They both loved the dog, fought over the dog. The dog chased a stick she\u2019d throw, dropped it at her feet, licked her hands and danced around her.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee this dog?\u201d she said, as if to indicate it showed more interest and glee than Jeter. She said, \u201cA little appreciation would be nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter said, \u201cYou want me to be a goddamned mind reader?\u201d<\/p>\n

She began talking about returning to her father\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

Jeter\u2019s eight-thirty check revealed Number 4\u2019s vaporizer heater in the off<\/em> position.<\/p>\n

Because of recent layoffs the Green Salt third shift was skeletal.\u00a0 He worked practically alone in the joint.\u00a0 The only one in the dissociator room, he bellowed an agonizing yell.\u00a0 He would not call Eschen and get chewed out a second time.\u00a0 Instead, he patched in directly to Electrical.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201dMoorman yelled.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet your ass down here and fix this for good.\u201d\u00a0 Jeter hung up, just as Eschen had cut him off.\u00a0 The rudeness elevated his mood.<\/p>\n

While he waited, Jeter checked the vent and found it open.\u00a0 Frost had formed on all the piping connected to Number 4, including the line from the dissociator to the vaporizer loop.\u00a0 He debated as to what this might indicate.\u00a0 Once Moorman came banging through the door, Jeter planned to dog him step for step until they figured it out.\u00a0 Moorman set his tool box on the floor so he could shed his jacket.\u00a0 He said, \u201cYou\u2019re gonna watch over my shoulder?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter clenched his fists in his pants pockets.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re gonna solve this mystery together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Moorman looked at him doubtfully, then crouched to examine the vaporizer heater\u2019s circuit.\u00a0 Jeter didn\u2019t know what symptoms the electrician was looking for, but he noted all the earlier frost had disappeared, and that allayed some of his fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s your problem,\u201d Moorman said.\u00a0 \u201cFaulty circuit breaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter harrumphed like he knew how this would influence the rest of the night\u2019s production schedule.\u00a0 Moorman made a show of consulting his watch.\u00a0 They both knew it was almost eleven.\u00a0 \u201cStore\u2019s closed,\u201d he said, \u201cso I\u2019ll just wire around this circuit breaker for now.\u201d\u00a0 He marked the breaker he\u2019d avoided with a Danger<\/em> tag. When he restored power, the low temp indicator light flickered on, and Moorman said, \u201cVoila.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter said, \u201cThis being your third time out here, forgive me if I don\u2019t clap you on the back or promise you a beer at Flick\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust don\u2019t ring me up again tonight.\u201d\u00a0 Moorman worked at packing his gear, and he whistled.\u00a0 \u201cMan, it stinks in here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter nodded.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s the ammonia.\u201d He wondered briefly if he should strap on his respirator, and if he should update Eschen on Moorman\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n

Alone again with the dissociators Jeter ran a check-through of what the electrician just completed.\u00a0 The vaporizer was warm to his touch, as was the solenoid, which should have been bloody hot.\u00a0 A squirmy disturbance again rose to the top of his stomach.\u00a0 Liquid ammonia was beading up and dripping from the inlet connection to the solenoid.\u00a0 That sealed it; he would not switch on Number 4 tonight.\u00a0 So he left the ammonia feed valve closed and the catalyst chamber vent open.<\/p>\n

He refrained from pushing the low temp reset button he\u2019d hit earlier.\u00a0 When he caught sight of liquid ammonia dripping from the solenoid connection, he spun on his heels to go find Eschen.<\/p>\n

Perhaps under heavy premonition he moved more swiftly than he\u2019d supposed he could.\u00a0 Perhaps the explosion\u2019s force sent him sailing into the drive alongside the Tank Farm.\u00a0 In any case, as Jeter later told the story: \u201cI was blown free of the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour guardian angel,\u201d his brother in-law the Catholic said.<\/p>\n

Maybe his guardian angel had<\/em> been on duty when the ammonia whooshed through Green Salt and blew the Number 4 Dissociator\u2019s vaporizer, furnace, and instrument panel to smithereens, demolished an interior and exterior wall.\u00a0 The Number 5 Dissociator furnace and instrument panel also sustained damage.\u00a0 All windows on the north and west walls of the plant shattered out, sills and glass, as did those on the adjacent nitrogen generator building.<\/p>\n

But accident assessment came later.<\/p>\n

Initially, Jeter inventoried the injuries to this body\u2013 gravel embedded in the heels of his palms, his knees stunned and stinging, his ankle twisted. His eyes and throat burned; his head ached.\u00a0 But he was able to re-enter the building with Eschen to make sure it had been emptied once they donned self-contained breathing apparatus.\u00a0 Jeter gulped at his oxygen.\u00a0 They checked especially where the employee distribution map named guys on shift.\u00a0 Two chemical operators had been working the second floor panel board at the south end of Green Salt, another had been on the fourth floor, also on the south end.\u00a0 The ammonia gas essentially blew out a side of the plant, and no evacuation alarm had sounded.<\/p>\n

Without pointing blame, the investigation report said, \u201cUnfortunately, no one recognized the frosting on the piping beyond the vaporizer as an abnormal condition requiring attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Jeter had seen it.\u00a0 He\u2019d shelved it because he didn\u2019t want to have to call Eshen a fourth time.<\/p>\n

Around the bar at Flick\u2019s Cliff had often noted, \u201cDifferent supervisors and operators who work in the area are better informed than others on dissociator equipment and operation. It\u2019s primarily a fact of longer experience. Some guys have only been in their buildings a short time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another part of the accident report read: \u201cThe chem operator who shut the ammonia supply to the building didn\u2019t don self-contained breathing apparatus until later.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would have been Evan Wunder, who\u2019d only recently been assigned to Four.\u00a0 He was rewarded by a good whiff of the vaporized ammonia.\u00a0 Eshen and Jeter located Evan and dragged him out of there as fast as they could. In the open, Jeter tore off his apparatus and strapped it over Evan\u2019s mouth and nose.\u00a0 Jeter felt about to rupture as surely as that dissociator, to blow a hole in the sides of all their sturdily built little lives.\u00a0 Not lives, but lies, one big, rambling house of cards.\u00a0 He was getting woozy, his ankle throbbed, finally calling attention. Fire & Safety arrived on the scene.\u00a0 People talked and yelled against the vaporous ammonia winding its way among all those busy at recovery.\u00a0 Others were entering Four to shut it down.\u00a0 As Evan came coughing back, Jeter passed out.<\/p>\n

The electrical power transformer for Dissociator Number 4 was found to be defective and would be replaced.\u00a0 While investigation and cleanup occurred, the Green Salt guys were assigned temporary work elsewhere.\u00a0 Management paired Evan Wunder and Jeter Burns in the out of doors. No one missed a day of work.<\/p>\n

Jeter limped through the next night\u2019s shift.\u00a0 Evan kept hacking up shit and spitting into the browned-out October grass.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe they figure we need to draw in a good reserve of fresh air to level out all the bad crap we swallowed.\u201d\u00a0 Evan joked, but his eyes watered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re probably spying on us right now, making sure we\u2019re not sharing secrets about the blow-up we still ain\u2019t told to the team,\u201d Jeter said.<\/p>\n

Evan advanced the sarcasm.\u00a0 \u201cWe better get our stories straight.\u00a0 Our accounts better match.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, we\u2019ll match all right, like a set of salt and pepper shakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evan faked an exaggerated sneeze. \u201cAaa-choo!\u201d<\/p>\n

They pried lids off the drums that arrived by box car, took samples to send up to the Pilot Plant, marked the sides of the containers and closed them back for trucking to various Fernald locations.\u00a0 Hammering eliminated the need for continuous talk, but now and then the night that ruled the surrounding fields and woods came alongside them like a quiet, obedient dog.\u00a0 Evan spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a guy saves your life, you owe him one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter said, \u201cOne what?\u00a0 A life?\u00a0 No thanks, I\u2019m having tough enough time managing the one I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can at least buy breakfast when we get off shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay.\u00a0 I\u2019ll let you.\u00a0 Nothing like goetta and eggs and good strong coffee, though after last night I\u2019d say we hardly need the kick of the joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evan nodded.\u00a0 \u201cFlick\u2019s, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

The son of a gun looked so damned grateful.<\/p>\n

Jeter had saved Lydia, too.\u00a0 He removed her from her daddy\u2019s house where she told him she\u2019d been suffocating, married her and carted her off, erected for her a new, cozy life.\u00a0 So what did she owe him for that?\u00a0 And why was it all about owing and pay-back anyway?\u00a0\u00a0 When did love stop being marked on a tally board of kindness given, kindness received?\u00a0 When did it leap, and how<\/em> did it leap, on the other side of the divide, where there was<\/em> no divide, where love just flowed because it was love, unashamed and unlimited?<\/p>\n

Working with Evan Wunder turned Jeter sad for all kinds of reasons.<\/p>\n

Their table at Flick\u2019s faced the Miami River.\u00a0 Jeter managed to catch Evan\u2019s attention while he sliced up his eggs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat there\u2019s Cliff.\u201d\u00a0 Jeter nodded at the men coming in the door, chewing a mouthful and talking.\u00a0 He felt ravenously hungry.\u00a0 \u201cAnd following behind him\u2019s Ray.\u00a0 Cliff and Ray are both millwrights, general repairmen.\u00a0 I call them the Fix-It Team.\u201d \u00a0Jeter raised his voice so these guys could hear.\u00a0 \u201cHere comes Mr. Fix and It.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted under his breath: \u201cBoth of them are good eggs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ray waved them off and went to sit at the bar.\u00a0 Cliff Emminger approached, drew out the chair next to Evan, lowered into it, and dusted things up right quick.\u00a0 \u201cFigures, doesn\u2019t it? They put us through paces for tornado drills, air raid drills, and other crap, but face a real emergency and no warning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we go,\u201d Jeter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWunder knows I got opinions I ain\u2019t afraid to share.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou two acquainted?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHell, yeah. How\u2019s your woman?\u201d<\/p>\n

Evan nodded.\u00a0 His face took on a dopey grin.\u00a0 \u201cGood, great.\u00a0 She\u2019s\u2013we\u2019re\u2014expecting, any day now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, congratulations there, Wunder.\u201d\u00a0 Cliff wrapped his two meaty hands around Evan\u2019s, fork handle and all.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour first?\u201d Jeter said.\u00a0 He gave a handshake, too.<\/p>\n

Another dip of the guy\u2019s head so his black hair fell in his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u00a0 I mean, ours together.\u201d\u00a0 He blinked and looked at Cliff.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got Mazie, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cliff nodded.\u00a0 \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, Mazie\u2019s Patrice\u2019s girl now, too.\u00a0 But you know.\u00a0 This baby will be the first with both our\u2026bloods, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cliff chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cFruit of your labors, so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeter said, \u201cEnough, man.\u00a0 Let him be.\u201d\u00a0 The guy inspired a protectiveness in Jeter. He was afraid the world hadn\u2019t finished yet with Evan Wunder, and he hoped all good for their new baby.\u00a0 He was in fact damned pleased that Evan Wunder, soon-to-be-father, sat across from him healthy and whole and appreciating the taste of eggs he was shoveling down his throat.<\/p>\n

Even though the investigative team exonerated everybody, Jeter would always feel half inside that strung out, exploding moment.\u00a0 He scrabbled back in his head to try and recall the feeling of total suspension, when the ammonia blast had tossed him but he hadn\u2019t yet fallen back to earth, when all consequences of his actions still hung, a time in which lack of gravity freed him.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, after a good nine hours of sleep, he\u2019d said to Lydia, \u201cNo one wants to admit, It\u2019s my fault<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019d finished summarizing, in sketchy terms, the blast.<\/p>\n

Lydia said, \u201cSo you\u2019re blaming me for our trouble?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJeez, I\u2019m not even talking about us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yes, you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019d packed some bags.\u00a0 He recognized the blue Samsonite train case she\u2019d lugged the night they\u2019d eloped.\u00a0 The sight pierced him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBound back to your daddy then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting out of here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

He switched the stove burner on and off, just to have something to do.\u00a0 He felt like they were setting a fire under the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m<\/em> responsible for you leaving?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As with the frost on the pipes, had little signs erupted along the way, especially since Russ had been born, and he preferred not to investigate?\u00a0 Any talk beneath normal day to day was like turning over a rock, because then you couldn\u2019t ignore the mealy things squirming in front of you: pill bugs, salamanders, millipedes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not even begin talking fault,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

All Jeter had been contemplating, especially since the accident, was this: For what can I, or any of us, be held responsible?\u00a0 Momentary distraction could sabotage the world.\u00a0 This habit of undercutting happiness existed in Lydia and Jeter and his pop and Fernald and the fucking Atomic Energy Commission.<\/p>\n

It was so goddamned hard to own up: \u201cI wasn\u2019t paying attention.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t hear you when you called my name.\u00a0 I missed the signs of your distress.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t see the frost.\u00a0 Or, I saw the frost and I hoped it would melt.\u00a0 And then it did, so I didn\u2019t say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not a mistake that can\u2019t be traced back to the longing and humor in my heart.<\/em>\u00a0 Lydia\u2019d bust out laughing if he said that.\u00a0 Beyond the ability to accept blame, add to that timing.\u00a0 There was a window, and if you missed it then admittance didn\u2019t do a bit of good because it was too late, the direction of the tracks had already been cast.\u00a0 Wood had been cut and iron had been forged and the wheels of your rail car spun.\u00a0 Often your loved ones had been the very fiends putting the metal to the center of the white hot flame.<\/p>\n

Odds were when Jeter pulled the Olds into his driveway that Lydia\u2019d be gone.\u00a0 He peered through Flick\u2019s caf\u00e9 style curtains at the Great Miami, the river which helped build the villages of Fernald, New Baltimore, Ross, New Haven, and Shandon, which supported the Feed Materials Production Center, as well as the early families of Butterfield, Brown, Cove, Hungerford, and Frances from as far back as the Revolutionary War, and the Redhawk Indians and, hell, probably even the mastodons\u2013 he didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know much of anything except that he\u2019d better get home and feed the dog, locate where Lydia\u2019d parked Russ, and figure how they\u2019d step up to caring for the boy.<\/p>\n

And as ever, the next night\u2019s Fernald shift counted on his arrival and clocking in.\u00a0 He was a precious cog in the Byzantine process that had been set into motion on these thousand acres, and once started, the monstrous thing couldn\u2019t be neglected.\u00a0 The ammonia blast proved he\u2019d gained a kernel of something worth knowing.\u00a0 At first opportunity he planned to tell Eschen or Evan or even Cliff, who would no doubt tell the world, what the amonia blast had taught him.\u00a0 If he could reduce even one on-the-job mistake, Jeter might manage to shoulder the other secondary sadness he lugged around.<\/p>\n

EPILOGUE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Fernald Materials Processing Center located near the town of Fernald in Southwest Ohio was a large scale integrated facility for the production of uranium metal used to fabricate fuel cores and target element cores for reactors operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).\u00a0 National Lead of Ohio (NLO) refined uranium and produced uranium ingots and billets as well as uranium oxide for gaseous diffusion plants from 1951 to 1986.\u00a0 Highpoint of employment occurred in 1956 with over 2,900 individuals at work on the site. Peak production occurred in 1960 with over 10,000 MTU of cores delivered to government operated reactors in Richland, Washington and Savannah River, South Carolina.\u00a0 NLO operated\u00a0 the plant under prime contract with the DOE, answering to the Office of the Assistant Manager for Defense Programs at the DOE\u2019s office in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

In 1984 a series of malfunctions with the dust collectors in Plant 9 resulted in uranium dust released into the atmosphere.\u00a0 These incidents raised the alarm and the consciousness of many who lived and worked in the area.. Continued resident uproar, media scrutiny, Congressional hearings and a $300 million class action lawsuit against NLO\u00a0 marked the beginning of the end for the FMPC.\u00a0 Operations ceased at the plant in 1989; two decades of cleanup and restoration to the environment followed.\u00a0 Today the site is a nature preserve with hiking trails and other scenic elements open to the public.\u00a0 The Fernald Preserve Visitors Center, also at that same location, serves as a repository of historical, geological, environmental and scientific data about the site and the industry that once flourished there.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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