Violation of instructions

W. H. McCorkle (I just discovered his first name was Willard) crops up a lot in the Argonne files in the early 50s, as a metallurgist who was a director of research. Walter Zinn tended to be blunt with him.

Zinn 1954 memo

I have had reported to me by a reliable source that there has been an occasion when CP-5 has been operating at full power and no operator was in the control room. This is in direct violation of my instructions. … The penalty for failing to obey this instruction will be discharge. … Please take the necessary steps to satisfy yourself that every single operator fully understands this rule and that he fully understands the consequences of failing to obey it.

Zinn, Walter H. 1954. Zinn to McCorkle, Nov. 5, 1954. “Reading File, November 5, 1954,” Box 111, Laboratory Director’s Reading File, 1949-1957, RG 326. NARA-GL, Chicago, Illinois.

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