Y-12 National Security Complex
Y-12 National Security Complex Y-12 is located in the Bear Creek Valley of East Tennessee, adjacent to Oak Ridge, Tennessee (pop. 28,000), and about 15 miles (24 km) from Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Complex was constructed as part of the World War II Manhattan Project. Construction for the Manhattan Project began with the first shovelful of dirt turned at Y-12 in February 1943, and operations began in November of that year. The first site mission was the separation of uranium 235 from natural uranium by the electromagnetic separation process. In the years following World War II, Y-12 evolved into a high-precision manufacturing assembly and inspection facility while maintaining the nation’s uranium and lithium technology base. Missions have expanded since the end of the Cold War and the ensuing easing of international tensions. Y-12’s national defense missions focus on weapon components and production of nuclear weapon secondaries and prevention of the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Y-12's mission is to meet the needs of the U.S. Department of Energy, the NNSA, other government agencies, and private industry through a commitment to excellence in the use of a technology-based manufacturing center.
This mission includes
- production/rework of complex nuclear weapon components and secondaries;
- receipt, storage, and protection of special nuclear materials;
- quality evaluation/enhanced surveillance of the nation’s nuclear weapon stockpile;
- dismantlement of weapon secondaries and disposition of weapon components;
- prevention of the spread of weapons of mass destruction; and
- support to DOE, other federal agencies, and other national priorities.
Another mission of long standing is the support of other federal agencies through a complementary work program. Y-12 applies unique expertise, initially developed for highly specialized military purposes, to a wide range of manufacturing problems to support the capabilities of the U.S. industrial base. Y-12’s all-inclusive expertise includes proceeding from concept, through detailed design and specification, to building prototypes and configuring integrated manufacturing processes.
History of the Y-12 National Security Complex
In 1943, about 22,000 people came to rural East Tennessee to do whatever was necessary to end World War II. As part of the Manhattan Project, these individuals helped produce the first nuclear weapons. Following are some significant milestones in Y‑12’s progress toward its current mission.
- 1943. Y‑12 plant construction begins as part of the Manhattan Project.
- 1945. Uranium-235 electronmagnetically separated by the Y‑12 plant is used in Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
- 1949. The gates to the "secret city" open.
- 1954. The first batch of thermonuclear parts is assembled and shipped from Y-12.
- 1967. Y-12 produces the NASA "moon boxes" to bring back lunar-surface geological samples to Earth.
- 1994. Y-12 leads a team that airlifts vulnerable highly enriched uranium (HEU) in Kazakhstan for safe disposition in the United States.
- 1994. Surplus highly enriched uranium is placed under international safeguards at Y‑12.
- 1997. Y-12 meets the requirement for an upgraded B61-11 weapons system ahead of schedule and within budget.
- 1998. The first production unit is met ahead of schedule for the W87 Life Extension Program.
- 2003. Construction begins on the Purification Facility, the first major production facility to be built at Y‑12 in more than 30 years.
- 2004. Construction begins on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, the largest design effort at Y‑12 in more than a decade.
- 2004. Nuclear materials and process designs surrendered by Libya are transferred to Y‑12, some of which are displayed at a media event attended by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.
- 2004. President George W. Bush inspects Libyan nuclear materials secured in Oak Ridge, and Condoleezza Rice expresses appreciation for Y‑12 support in combating weapons of mass destruction.
- 2004.The W87 life extension program is completed successfully and on schedule.
- 2004. A new storage facilty opens for preserving Y‑12 historical records; it employs document protection technologies used in the new Bill Clinton and Dwight D. Eisenhower presidential libraries.
- 2005. Approvals are expected for design phases of both the Uranium Processing Facility and the Beryllium Capability Project.
- 2005 Construction of highly enriched uranium storage facility begins.
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