Editing Y-12 National Security Complex (section)

==Facilities and missions==
Y-12's primary missions since the end of the [[Cold War]] have been to support defense needs through [[stockpile stewardship]], assist on issues of [[Nuclear proliferation|nuclear non-proliferation]], support the Naval Reactors program, and provide expertise to other federal agencies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.y12.doe.gov|title=Y-12 National Security Complex|website=www.y12.doe.gov}}</ref> Y-12 is also responsible for the maintenance and production of all uranium parts and "secondary" mechanisms for every nuclear weapon in the United States arsenal.

Y-12 has a history of providing secure storage of nuclear material for both the United States and other governments. Early efforts focused on securing material from the former Soviet Union;<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/20/AR2009092002881.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=David E. | last=Hoffman | title=Half a Ton of Uranium -- and a Long Flight | date=2009-09-21}}</ref> recent activities have included recovery of highly enriched uranium from Chile.<ref>{{cite web|first=Frank |last=Munger |url=http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2010/04/three_from_y-12_helped_secure.html |title=Three from Y-12 Helped Secure Chile's HEU |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719074122/http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2010/04/three_from_y-12_helped_secure.html |archive-date=July 19, 2010 |website=[[Knoxville News Sentinel]]| date=April 8, 2010 |access-date=February 14, 2013}}</ref> Environmental cleanup has been an ongoing issue for the Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. The Y-12 plant was listed as an [[Superfund|EPA Superfund]] site in the 1990s for groundwater and [[soil contamination]]. The Y-12 plant was listed on the DOE's Cleanup Criteria/Decision Document Database (or C2D2 database).<ref>{{cite web| url=http://c2d2.eml.doe.gov/index.cfm?target=im.cfm |title=Cleanup Criteria / Decision Document Database |website=Department of Energy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923012247/http://c2d2.eml.doe.gov/index.cfm?target=im.cfm |archive-date=September 23, 2006}}</ref> An influx of funding from the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]] benefited cleanup efforts by funding demolition and decontamination of aging facilities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Y-12 Stimulus Fund Grows, New Projects May Follow |url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/aug/18/y-12-stimulus-fund-grows-new-projects-may-follow/ |access-date=February 14, 2013 |date=August 18, 2010 |website=[[Knoxville News Sentinel]] |first=Frank |last=Munger |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010193059/http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/aug/18/y-12-stimulus-fund-grows-new-projects-may-follow/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-10-10|language=en-US}}</ref> These efforts work to further the long-term reduction in the size of the Y-12 facility.<ref>{{Cite web |first=John |last=Huotari  |title=Officials say Uranium Processing Facility supporters outnumber opponents |url=https://www.oakridger.com/story/news/local/2009/11/30/officials-say-uranium-processing-facility/63365790007/ |access-date=2025-05-01 |date=2009-11-30 |website=[[The Oak Ridger]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

Y-12 employs approximately 8,600 people, including subcontractors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Community {{!}} Y-12 National Security Complex |url=https://www.y12.doe.gov/about/community |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=www.y12.doe.gov}}</ref> About 1,500 personnel work onsite as employees of organizations that include [[UT-Battelle]], [[Science Applications International Corporation]], UCOR, and WSI Oak Ridge (an American-controlled unit of [[G4S Secure Solutions]]), which holds the security contract for the site. Workers at the site were represented by the [[Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union]].<ref name="Dumas">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bischak |first=Greg |editor-last1=Dumas |editor-first1=Lloyd J. |editor-last2=Thee |editor-first2=Marek |encyclopedia=Making Peace Possible: The Promise of Economic Conversion |title=Facing the Second Generation of the Nuclear Weapons Complex: Renewal of the Nuclear Production Base or Economic Conversion? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=brijBQAAQBAJ |access-date=2022-03-20 |year=1989 |publisher=Pergamon Press |series=Peace Research Monograph |volume=19 |isbn=0-08-037252X |page=115}}</ref>