Nuclear Corporation of America – History in the Making
1. Learn more about radiacmeter.
The path that the Reo Motor Car Company took to become Nucor Corporation is hardly a straight or direct one.
After Reo Motors sold its vehicle manufacturing operations to Bohn Aluminum and Brass Corporation in 1954, management began liquidating the remainder of the company. However, a group of shareholders successfully challenged this liquidation in a proxy fight in 1955 and forced Reo Holding Corporation to take over a tiny nuclear services company called Nuclear Consultants, Inc. in a reverse takeover. The merger was effective on October 7, 1955. Under the terms of this merger, the new company adopted the name Nuclear Corporation of America, Inc.
In the mid-1950s, Nuclear acquired a number of companies engaged in the atomic energy, nuclear development and electronics fields. After acquiring Radioactive Products, Inc., Central Sales & Mfg. Corporation, Garrett Engineering Co., Inc., Research Chemicals, Inc., and Isotope Specialties Co., Inc., all of the companies were merged into a new Delaware corporation, Nuclear Corporation of America, in March 1958.
In the early 1960s, Nuclear Corporation of America continued to diversify, acquiring various businesses in an attempt to grow. However, by the mid-1960s, the company was struggling financially with mounting losses from its diverse, unfocused operations. While most of the Nuclear divisions were unprofitable, one division was overwhelmingly successful. In 1962, Nuclear had acquired Vulcraft Corporation in Florence, South Carolina, and Ken Iverson had been hired to serve as its general manager.
Following his success in Florence, in late 1964 Ken was moved to Nuclear’s headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, with responsibilities for both Vulcraft South Carolina and the new Vulcraft division in Nebraska. By 1965, the company was in dire straits.
Dave Thomas, Nuclear’s Chairman of the Board and President, offered his resignation, and board member Donald Lillis (a partner at Bear, Stearnes & Co. and part owner of the New York Jets) was elected chairman. At the time, Lillis owned 24% of Nuclear’s stock. Harold Shelton, a board member for only three weeks, was elected chief executive officer. With an infusion of capital from various sources, Nuclear’s financial burden somewhat eased; however, it had not yet been determined who would lead the company permanently.
Leading up to these changes, Sam Siegel, who had been hired as an accountant for Nuclear in 1961, had begun looking for employment elsewhere. But on July 30, 1965, he sent CEO Shelton a telegram stating that he would consider continuing with Nuclear if Ken were elected president and if Sam were named treasurer and controller. Shelton and Lillis agreed, and Ken started rebuilding the company around the Vulcraft divisions. He sold or shuttered half of Nuclear’s businesses and moved the company to Charlotte. The rest, as they say, is history.
1. Radiacmeter
A radiacmeter (short for Radiation Detection, Indication and Computation), such as this one manufactured by Nuclear Corporation of America in the 1950s and 1960s, is a device used by the military and civil defense teams to detect and measure radioactive contamination.
2. Listing on the American Stock Exchange
At 11 a.m. on Monday, October 10, 1955, Nuclear Corporation of America, Inc. stock began trading on the American Stock Exchange. Nuclear energy was used for the first time in history to actuate stock tickers, when it triggered the recording of the first sale of Nuclear Corporation stock.
3. Going Nucor
Before the company changed its name from Nuclear Corporation of America to Nucor in 1972, “Nucor” had already been a registered trademark of the Nuclear Instruments division since 1959 and appeared on brochures, instruments and stock certificates.
4. Scaler Model BC-594
Nuclear Corporation of America’s Scaler Model BC-594 is a radiation counting device. It detected and measured radioactivity and was used in labs and civil defense. The scaler counted electric pulses that came from a radiation detector. This model features a vacuum tube design. A Geiger-Müller tube was attached to the bottom right corner of the front of the device (“GM Input”). The scaler turned the pulses into a digital or analog number to let scientists measure the amount of radiation in a sample