Category Archives: Nuclear Weapons

Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department

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present-at-creationThis autobiography by Dean Acheson, who was President Harry S. Truman’s trusted Secretary of State, is filled with information that would be interesting to anyone wanting to know more about the people and policies of the Truman administration. It is a very long book (over 700 pages excluding notes, references, and the index), and it is in small font. The title is derived from a quote from King of Spain Alphonso X, the Learned, 1252-1284, “Had I been present at the creation I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe.” I certainly had the impression that Mr. Acheson had no lack of confidence in his ability to make wise decisions about solutions to problems or making accurate judgments about people. There were a few cases where he writes that decisions proved to be a mistake, but those were the exception. He either writes with admiration and often affection for people or with open contempt. I don’t recall anyone being described other than in the two extremes. I also don’t recall a single circumstance where he describes Harry S. Truman with anything other than admiration. I have read in other sources that the respect was mutual; Harry considered Acheson his “second in command.” The office of the Vice President was vacant until Truman and his running mate, Alben Barkley took office in 1949 after winning the election in 1948. I don’t recall Barkley being prominently mentioned.

The book follows Acheson’s State Department career chronologically from being an Assistant Secretary of State 1941-1945, Under Secretary of State 1945-1947, to his tumultuous years of Secretary of State 1947-1953.  My primary interest in reading the book was the decisions of the Truman administration in containment of the Soviet Union during the Cold War and whether Acheson and others in the State Department were, as described by critics, “in the pocket of the Soviets.” To the contrary, Acheson describes relations with the Soviets in a non-flattering manner beginning early in the book. He says the Soviet diplomats “…cultivated boorishness as a method of showing their contempt for the capitalist world, with which they wanted minimum contact…” He mentions one Soviet diplomat named Oumansky who was killed in “…a plane crash of suspicious cause…” and that “…we felt no sense of loss.” Acheson would eventually come under constant attack and suspicion during the “red scare era,” but I never found an instance in the book where he displayed anything but distrust of Stalin and the Soviets. Continue reading →

Rocky Flats Benefits Changes—August Update

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I’ve previously summarized important information on scheduled changes to Rocky Flats retiree healthcare benefits. These changes were described in June 2014 letters to retirees and also further elaborated in public briefings by the new DOE benefits contractor (Washington River Protection Solutions)  implementing healthcare benefit changes for Rocky Flats retirees 65 or older. These healthcare benefits changes are currently scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2015 and require near-term action by 65+ year old, benefits-eligible retirees to avoid loss of benefits. Please note: I’m acting in a purely unofficial capacity, do not endorse the benefits changes, and want mainly to make sure that my former colleagues are aware these important, upcoming changes so they can take timely and appropriate action. My main concerns are that some retirees may believe that they can safely ignore these changes because they were promised ‘lifetime benefits’ or, alternatively, some may be frustrated or overwhelmed by the apparent complexity of these changes. As I understand what is happening, these changes are moving forward and delay or inaction may result in Medicare-eligible retirees losing Rocky Flats-provided healthcare insurance coverage.

I’ve received many questions and comments since my initial blog postings and have myself attempted to find more information on the website provided in the healthcare benefits changes information letter (and packet) that I received by mail in June. That website has many links, but I was unable to find the correct pathway to access Rocky Flats information. When I called Rocky Flats Benefits Office at 1-866-296-5036 and United Health Care at 1-877-893-7224, they provided another link to a website a video recording of one of the informational briefings given in the Denver area in July 2014. For those that did not attend a briefing, I recommend watching the 1-hour video to learn what you will need to do over the next three months. Continue reading →

The World Set Free; A Story of Mankind

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world-set-freeWe usually don’t review fiction books, but this one deserves an exception. H. G. Wells wrote the book in 1913 and published it in 1914, and his visions of the future are quite amazing. A central part of the story is the discovery and application of nuclear energy for “aeroplanes” and other transportation vehicles. An “atomic riveting gun” is even mentioned. Wells uses the terms “radio-activity” and “atomic bombs” frequently. The bombs are a key part of the story. The major population centers are destroyed by atomic bombs, and mankind has little choice but to rebuild a more peaceful world. Wells was obviously keeping up with research of the atom by renowned physicists of the day to get material for the book.  He dedicates the book to Frederick Soddy, who had written a paper about radium.

The Prelude begins with man at “…the onset of his terrestrial career…” and we find him struggling to survive by making crude weapons and using fire and beasts of burden. Reading it made me wonder if the author of “Space Odyssey 2001” had read this book. Early man “…fled the cave bear over the rocks full of iron ore and the promise of a sword and spear; he froze to death over a ledge of coal…” Of course a few of the strongest and smartest survived and began to thrive. The author attributes this accomplishment to what is explained in the sentence, “Man began to think.” Not all was perfect, because man and his tribes invested centuries of history in warring against others. Many inventions, such as gunpowder, were intended to gain an advantage in wars. Still, at the end of the nineteenth century, “The sober Englishman …could sit at his breakfast table, decide between tea from Ceylon or coffee from Brazil, devour an egg from France and some Danish ham, or eat a New Zealand chop, wind up his breakfast with a West Indian banana, (and) glance at the latest telegrams…”

A professor named Rufus was giving lectures on radium and radio-activity and described how radium was “…breaking up and flying to pieces.” Rufus mentions uranium and thorium and describes that “…the atom…is really a reservoir of immense energy.” He goes on to describe how in fourteen ounces of the element uranium “…slumbers a least as much energy as we could get by burning a hundred and sixty tons of coal.” He continues to explain that that a sudden release of the energy “…would blow us and everything around us to fragments; … (or) keep Edinburgh brightly lit for a week.” He then proposes driving giant battleships or liners and predicts that “man’s material destiny” will be changed forever. Continue reading →

NSC 68 and the Political Economy of the Early Cold War

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polit-econ-cold-warFrequent readers of this web site will find that this is an unusual posting because it is a combination review and commentary. I took that approach because I disagree with the basic premise of the book that stated simplistically, the Soviets did not present the threat that was advocated by U.S. policy.  My disagreement with the premise of the book does not diminish its importance. There is, in my opinion, immense value in a healthy argument about whether the U.S. rearmament was the primary cause of the Cold War or whether the Soviet Union would have taken full advantage if that policy hadn’t blunted their efforts. I’m thrilled Truman was convinced that FDR’s trust of Stalin was misplaced and that containment of the Soviets was needed.

Back to a stab at a review, the book was written by Curt Cardwell, and he has some serious disagreements with the U.S. policies about the intentions of the Soviet Union before the beginning of the Cold War. Briefly, the National Security Council (NSC) issued a series of documents that gauged the intentions of the Soviet Union in the mid-1940s to early 1950s. Those who advocated that the Truman administration must take a hard line against the Soviet Union were primary authors of the policy statement titled NSC 68. The doctrine in that paper was approved by Truman and resulted in a massive rearmament program by the U.S. beginning in 1950. It was the culmination of several Top Secret documents advocating that the ultimate objective of the U.S.S.R. was world domination and that the U.S. was required to aggressively build military strength to prevent the Soviets from pursing that goal.  Cardwell strongly disagrees. He thinks the real purpose of NSC 68 was to protect free market capitalism. I disagree. I offer that the Soviets had blockaded Berlin, exploded their first atomic bomb in 1949, the Chinese Communists had taken control of China, North Korea had invaded the South, and the Chinese had entered the Korean War before NSC 68 was finally approved. Those events and actions indicate the Soviets were, in my opinion, interested in expanding their area of control.  Continue reading →

Rocky Flats Benefits Changes—Another Personal Story

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To frequent readers, the recent commentaries have been in line with the title of this web site, “RockyFlatsFacts.com.” This may be the last of the commentaries about Rocky Flats until we hear more about changes to retiree benefits that the Department of Energy (DOE) is requiring. People who have what they think are “life-time benefits” from a contractor to a government agency should read what is happening to the people who worked at Rocky Flats and develop a “healthy cynicism.”

Several responses to the commentaries previously posted on the changes have been something to the effect, “This can’t be. I worked with dangerous materials. However, they promised me good health care benefits when I retired.” The first warning about the DOE’s willingness to renege on that promise was posted last week by a person who had their health care benefits removed by an administrative action even while they continued to be employed at Rocky Flats. DOE of course did not take the action directly to eliminate the “promised benefits.” They established a contract that required a contractor to take that action.

I received a letter from a reader dated December 1, 2000 addressed to “Retiree or Surviving Spouse.” It explained that DOE had directed Kaiser-Hill not to make any changes for salaried employees who retired before July 1, 1995 or their surviving spouses. The letter also included a memo from the DOE manager saying that there will be no changes and that “…post 1995 retiree benefits will be addressed in “…DOE forthcoming policy…” I am certain people are digging through their files to find information such as this as they contemplate how to protect their benefits. Continue reading →

Rocky Flats Benefit Changes – Another in a String of Reductions

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This blog was started to document the truth about the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Rocky Flats Plant, which purified and fabricated plutonium and other parts for nuclear weapons at a relatively small site sixteen miles northwest of Denver. Last week, RF_Alum posted on changes to retirement benefits for these “Cold War Warriors”. This week I will explain how I lost my retirement benefits, despite twenty-two years of service at the plant.

At the time, the retirement calculation used at DOE sites considered both years of service and age of the employee, so when I left in 2003 I would have qualified for a full retirement package except for one problem: Twenty months short of earning my retirement, I was laid off from the prime-contractor and shifted to a job with a subcontractor (or “third tier” company).  Time with such a subcontractor didn’t “count”.  The day I was laid off, the Human Resources representative handed me my twenty-year service award, thanked me for my loyalty, and held her breath hoping I wouldn’t explode.

I thanked the nice HR lady (it wasn’t her fault) and left her office shaking my head.  The next day I reported to my subcontractor job.  The DOE still wanted my labor, but they didn’t want to follow through on the promise of retirement benefits that had been part of my compensation package for twenty years.

The DOE had wanted to keep turn-over rates low. The promised retirement encouraged employees like me to stay at the Flats, and this benefited the nation since hiring, paying for security clearance investigations, and developing employee expertise cost a lot of money.

America’s needs changed when the Cold War fizzled out.  Continue reading →