Carpenter Steel Company Information

Beginning in 1943, Carpenter Steel Corporation was one of the 14 private contractors and vendors that produced fuel for the Oak Ridge X-10 pilot plant reactor and the full-scale Hanford production reactors. As an alternative to extrusion, the Carpenter Steel Company of Reading, Pennsylvania experimented with rolled uranium rods in July 1944, but these proved to be inferior to the extruded product. The metal tended to form laps and seams on the surfaces of the rolled bars. Carpenter Steel has since changed its name to Carpenter Technology Corporation. 1947, the Beryllium Corporation plant at Reading produced highly distilled and pure beryllium oxide on a small scale for the AEC. By 1960, the plant focused on alloy and oxide work. In 1961, the plant supplied beryllium parts to the Y-12 plant and produced beryllium powder for the AEC from government inventory beryllium ingots. Although all major Berylco contracts (beyond 1961) and purchase orders reviewed to date show that the final product shipped from Hazelton, it has been clarified that but for the alloy and oxide work performed in Reading, the contracts and purchase orders fulfilled for the AEC by Hazelton could not have been completed.

Type of Facility

• Atomic Weapons Employer

Covered by EEOICPA

• Part B

EEOICPA Covered Years

• 1943-1944

Did work for:

• Hanford
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory

DOE

• DOE Facility List by Name
• FUSRAP Considered Site

DOL

• Tracking your DOL Claim Status
• Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health
• Ombudsman’s Office
• Resource Center
• DOL Case and Claim Statistics

NIOSH

• FAQs About Your Case
• Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health
• AWE Site Wide Documents
• NIOSH Case Statistics

Other Resources

• Waste Lands-America’s Forgotten Nuclear Legacy Database