Usually surprises in the nuclear industry are unwelcomed, but earlier this year, Jason Johnson — known as “JJ” to his co-workers — received one he will cherish forever.
Office of Environmental Management
November 19, 2024
minute read time
Jason Johnson, known as JJ, is a senior operations technician with Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management contractor Isotek supporting the Uranium-233 Disposition Project.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Usually surprises in the nuclear industry are unwelcomed, but earlier this year, Jason Johnson — known as “JJ” to his co-workers — received one he will cherish forever.
Johnson is a senior operations technician with contractor Isotek, supporting the Uranium-233 Disposition Project. It’s the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s (OREM) highest-priority cleanup project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
That project is focused on eliminating the inventory of uranium-233 (U-233) stored in ORNL's Building 3019, which is the world’s oldest operating nuclear facility. Originally created in the 1950s and 1960s for potential use in reactors, U-233 proved to be an unviable fuel source.
As teams planned to retrieve the next canister of U-233 from storage for processing and disposal, Johnson learned his grandfather was one of the people responsible for preparing that very canister for storage more than 40 years earlier.
Andy Johnson, Jason Johnson's grandfather, worked as an engineering technician in Building 3019 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Isotek U-233 Specialist Billy Starnes noticed the records showed employees sampled the canister before placing it in long term storage all those years ago.
Curiosity led Starnes to delve deeper into the logbooks, and he noticed a former co-worker’s name. The grandfather, Andy Johnson, was the person who had sampled the canister.
“I was kind of blown away,” Jason Johnson said about learning that he and his grandfather worked on the same canisters. “It’s surreal to think 47 years ago when I was born that I would have the opportunity to continue what he worked on.”
Jason Johnson knew his grandfather had worked at ORNL, but he didn’t realize both worked in Building 3019 generations apart. His grandfather previously served as an engineering technician in the facility.
Jason Johnson, far right, and other Isotek employees prepare to retrieve a canister of uranium-233 from storage for processing and disposal at Building 3019 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Starnes, who has worked in Building 3019 for more than 50 years, recognized Andy Johnson’s name because the two worked together for nearly 10 years.
“He was really good to have on your shift with you,” said Starnes. “You didn’t have to worry about Andy keeping up with you.”
Now, Starnes finds that same dependability two generations later in Jason Johnson. The Johnson family has had two generations serving one mission, decades apart.
The grandfather and grandson were close.
“He loved my children to the fullest,” Jason Johnson said. “He didn’t miss many ballgames when I was little.”
When Andy Johnson wasn’t placing U-233 canisters into storage, he was a deacon at his church, which he helped build.
Andy Johnson died in 2015, but Jason Johnson carries his grandfather’s legacy forward through his own work as Isotek helps complete critical cleanup efforts and ensures material extracted from U-233 can be used for cancer treatments.
-Contributor: John Gray
To receive the latest news and updates about the Office of Environmental Management, submit your e-mail address.