Among the papers I discovered in 2006 was a memorandum from Dad addressed to Dr. Edward C. Riley of the Medical Department (with copies to G. A. Strasser, Y-12 Plant Shift Supervisor, and H. W. Saylor, Department Superintendent, Building 9206). Dad submitted the memo Tuesday, February 18, 1947, the final day of work for my Mother and many other CEW/TEC workers. The memorandum is in response to a request for data from Dr. Riley. It consists of two sentences at the top of the page, followed by a list of names and a few notes at the bottom. The two top sentences read as follows:

"Listed below are the people who have worked in the 'Q' and Calcining operating areas of 9206, where known air borne 'T' concentrations existed.

The data on air 'T' concentration and alpha radiation is complied by the Medical Department and any implications or conclusions must be drawn from that department."

The memo then provides the names of fifty-four workers, setting out where and for how long they worked. Dad took the original file copy home and kept it there for the rest of his life.

During his long career at Y-12 and ORNL, Dad must have turned in hundreds of reports, yet this was the only one he kept a copy of at home. Holding the memo in my hands, I wondered why he did that and what compelled him to preserve it for more than sixty-five years.

The second sentence's exculpatory tone and disingenuous language disavowing "any implications or conclusions" suggests an answer to that question. To misquote Shakespeare a bit, "The foreman doth protest too much, methinks."

The following day Dr. Riley added the following memo to the Clinical Records of my Mother. It contains but a single sentence:

"The above named employee worked 1 year & over in the 'Q' and Calcining operating areas of Building 9206: In these areas air borne concentrations of 'T' have been present and at times the Alpha Radiation has exceeded the currently accepted allowable limit for prolonged exposure."

Presumably, he placed a similar document in the Clinical Records of each worker named in Dad's memorandum.

These memoranda, together with Dad's letter to his parents and the disturbing revelations that surfaced during our "quiet conversation," inevitably led me to want to learn more about worker exposure to radiation hazards in Building 9206 during the Manhattan Project years, who was aware of it, and what was their response?