News and events in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Chuck Fleischmann
A U.S. House of Representatives committee on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include sites in Oak Ridge and Hanford, Wash., and Los Alamos, N.M.
The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.
The legislation stalled in the last session of Congress, but it has been reintroduced this session. [Read more...]
Tom Beehan
A new national historical park that could include Oak Ridge would honor the history of the Manhattan Project, the most significant event of the 20th Century, Mayor Tom Beehan will tell a U.S. House subcommittee in testimony this morning.
The Manhattan Project was a top-secret U.S. program to build the world’s first atomic weapons. The three Manhattan Project sites that could be included in the new park are Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash.
Despite what some detractors might say, the proposed park is not about weapons, Beehan wrote in prepared testimony.
“I believe this historical park is about scientific and engineering accomplishments at a time when our country was defending itself, both during World War II and the Cold War,” he said. [Read more...]
Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site has previously been identified for possible inclusion in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)
A bill to set up a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bipartisan legislation was reintroduced on Friday in the U.S. House by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, a Washington Republican; Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican; and Rep. Ben Luján, a New Mexico Democrat.
The legislation—H.R. 1208—would establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include facilities in Oak Ridge; Hanford, Wash.; and Los Alamos, N.M.
Lamar Alexander
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has reintroduced legislation to set up a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge.
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park would also include Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash. All three sites played important roles in the top-secret World War II program to build the world’s first atomic weapons.
“The Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in American history, and the facilities at Oak Ridge continue to be an important source of jobs and research for Tennessee and the rest of the country,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.
The legislation was introduced Thursday.
Local historians, officials, volunteers, and former Manhattan Project workers celebrate Oak Ridge’s 70th birthday on Wednesday. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)
Residents, officials, and historic preservationists celebrated Oak Ridge’s birthday on Wednesday with cake, historical displays, speeches, a preservation award, and a special free showing of “Fat Man and Little Boy.”
The celebration at Jackson Square marked the 70th anniversary of the day that Gen. Leslie Groves selected Oak Ridge as the first Manhattan Project site. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.
Organizers in Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash., are having special events today to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret national effort to create the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.
Although nothing is planned in Oak Ridge, local volunteers are considering whether to have a celebration on Sept. 19, the 70th anniversary of the decision to select Oak Ridge for the first Manhattan Project site, newspaper columnist and Y-12 National Security Complex Historian D. Ray Smith said in an e-mail.
The volunteers plan to begin discussing the possible celebration during a 4 p.m. Tuesday meeting in the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau conference room.
Doc Hastings
A U.S. House committee approved a bill today to set up a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include Oak Ridge.
In the works for years, the park would also include facilities in Hanford, Wash., and Los Alamos, N.M.
The legislation, H.R. 5987, can now be considered by the full House.
Pictured above at a June 28 U.S. House hearing on the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act are, from front left, Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation president; Heather McClenahan, executive director of the Los Alamos Historical Society; and D. Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian. Gary Petersen, Tri-City Development Council vice president, is pictured in the background. (Photo courtesy of Atomic Heritage Foundation)
A U.S. House committee will vote Wednesday on a bill to create a Manhattan Project historical park that would include Oak Ridge, Rep. Doc Hastings announced Friday.
The legislation will be considered by the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Hastings is chair of that committee and sponsor of the bill, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act. He represents the Hanford site in Washington, which would also be part of the national park.
“I expect the Committee will vote to favorably advance the bill to the full House for consideration,” Hastings said in a news release. “A great many volunteers have been working for years to bring this idea into reality, and I’m pleased that progress is being made in the law-making process to preserve this amazing and important piece of our nation’s history.”
Lamar Alexander
The Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in American history, and according to some historians, it is the single most significant event of the 20th Century.
In 2004, I joined Sen. Jeff Bingaman as a cosponsor of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Study Act, which directed the Department of Interior to conduct a study of the Manhattan Project sites to determine the feasibility of including the sites in the National Park System.
In 2011, Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, recommended the creation of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park with units at Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash. According to Secretary Salazar, “The Manhattan Project ushered in the Atomic Age, changed the role of the United States in the world community, and set the stage for the Cold War.”
Two nonprofit organizations have released the testimony they are submitting to Congress this week for hearings on a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan will testify at a Senate hearing at 3 p.m. today on behalf of the nonprofit Energy Communities Alliance. His testimony is available here.
The nonprofit Atomic Heritage Foundation has also released its testimony to the Senate and House, where Y-12 National Security Complex D. Ray Smith will testify at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The House testimony is available here, and the Senate testimony is available here.
Congressional hearings on bills to set up a Manhattan Project park that includes Oak Ridge can be watched online Wednesday and Thursday.
A Senate hearing on the bills that starts at 3 p.m. Wednesday can be watched live at http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/live-webcast, the nonprofit Atomic Heritage Foundation said in a press release.
A House hearing that starts at 10 a.m. Thursday can be watched at http://naturalresources.house.gov/Live/.
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