Oak Ridge retiree Jim Ealy has recently published a mystery novel titled “The Secret Revealed . . . A Nuclear Odyssey,” depicting a scientific terrorism attack on Oak Ridge. Jim uses Jay Elam as his pen name and the name of the principal character in the book. He uses some actual local events and locations throughout the book.
Jim, who worked as an industrial hygienist in Oak Ridge at all three facilities during a 37-year-span, said the reason he wrote the novel was to remind readers of all of the secrecy involved throughout Oak Ridge history.
“My objective was to reintroduce the reader to how Oak Ridge got to the point where it is today,” Jim said.
The story begins with a mysterious attack on Y-12. Retired Army Reserves Col. Jay Elam is called back to active duty by the president of the United States to track down the culprits. He was chosen because, concurrent with his military career, he had worked at all three Oak Ridge installations and was very familiar with their missions. Adding to his qualifications was the fact that he had also been an embedded FBI agent during his career in Oak Ridge.
Col. Elam gets promoted to brigadier general on acceptance of the mission. He immediately requisitions retired military personnel and other resources needed to get the job done. Elam discovers the Y-12 attack was a smokescreen for a simultaneous intrusion at ORNL for the purpose of hacking the Summit supercomputer to skew calculations necessary for the ITER fusion reactor under construction in France.
The investigation eventually leads Elam’s group to Europe where he goes undercover by portraying himself as a businessman. The plot thickens as Elam discovers the main perpetrator has a hidden personal non-scientific agenda.
The initial command operation in the novel is located at McGhee Tyson Air Base in Blount County. The author was a U. S. Army Reserve commander in Oak Ridge and Knoxville for several years.
“I understand how the resources of the base could be brought in if a situation like this actually occurred,” Jim said. “People forget that the original mission of McGhee Tyson was to protect Oak Ridge.”
In the book, the author describes a unique geographical feature along the Clinch River on the ORNL site that allowed the intruders to gain undetected access to their target at ORNL.
“I got a lot of information about the physical areas of ORNL from ORNL retiree, Ernie Shepherd, who before World War II, lived near where the EGCR facility is now,” Jim said. “Ernie knew that area well as he hunted and fished with his brothers along the ridges and valleys.”
Jim said it took about a year to craft and write the plot before spending the next year reviewing and refining. ORNL retirees Carolyn Legg and Jerrie Mitchell helped along the way. Carolyn typed his original hand-printed manuscript and Jerrie helped put Jim’s ideas into words. Jim also passed the manuscript around to a number of longtime ORNL employees for their comments and suggestions.
Jim noted some of the reviewers of the manuscript wondered if there might be some security issues. In order to make sure nothing in the book might compromise current classified information or security, he offered it to the proper security representatives at Y-12 and ORNL for review before publishing. The manuscript was cleared without any changes.
Jim has received positive feedback from friends and acquaintances. As far as a possible sequel is concerned, he said that is still to be determined.