Oak Ridge Today

Planning to preserve history of K-25, which could be part of national park

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K-25 Building Aerial View

Now demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, pictured above, was once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Located in west Oak Ridge, the site could become part of a new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. There is a separate effort to preserve K-25’s history; that work could be incorporated into the new park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

 

It was once the world’s largest building under one roof and part of the one of the largest industrial projects ever, a top-secret program to build the world’s first atomic weapons in World War II.

Today the building is gone—demolition was completed in December 2013—but the stories of what took place inside the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building could live on in a replica equipment building, viewing tower, and history center.

And K-25 could become part of a new Manhattan Project National Historical Park approved by Congress in December and signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 19. The 14-page bill was the culmination of 15 years of work, said Colin Colverson, Manhattan Project Park lead in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

The law recognizes the Manhattan Project as one of the most significant events in U.S. history, with assets and history that must be preserved. It’s considered one of the top scientific achievements of the 20th century, and Oak Ridge residents still marvel at how quickly the three local sites (K-25, X-10, and Y-12) were built and began operating in all-out race to build an atomic bomb before Germany. [Read more…]

Wanted: ‘Calutron Girls’

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Y-12 Calutron Girls

The famous “Calutron Girls” photograph by Manhattan Project photographer Ed Westcott that prompted Denise Kiernan to write the best-seller “The Girls of Atomic City.”

 

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Wanted! “Calutron Girls” who worked at Y-12 during the Manhattan Project.

The Japanese Public Broadcasting Corporation wants to produce a documentary film to commemorate the end of World War II. Their program director representative has contacted Y-12 National Security Complex Historian D. Ray Smith and wants to interview some women who worked on the calutrons at Y-12. [Read more…]

Fleischmann and Luján to lead House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus

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Chuck Fleischmann, Mark Whitney, and Ben Ray Lujan

From left to right are Chairman Chuck Fleischmann, Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney, and Co-Chairman Ben Ray Luján. (Submitted photo)

Chairman Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, and Co-Chairman Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat, announced on Thursday that they will serve as co-chairs of the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, which held its first meeting of the 114th Congress to discuss the importance of raising awareness of environmental management issues.

Fifty years of government nuclear weapons development stemming from the Manhattan Project during World War II has affected communities across the nation and resulted in the need for environmental cleanup at numerous sites, a press release said.

“Our nation has a tremendous nuclear history, and with that has come an important nuclear cleanup mission,” said Fleischmann, who represents the city of Oak Ridge. “I am excited today to host the first meeting of the 114th Congress’ Nuclear Cleanup Caucus with co-chair Lujan and members from across the country who have districts that are impacted.  I also want to thank Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney for taking part in this meeting. This Caucus will serve to promote the awareness of our nuclear legacy and build a stronger coalition to fight for the needs of our cleanup missions, and I am eager to get to work.” [Read more…]

ORHS Ensemble, JazzKats have 1940s concert, dance party with ORHPA Friday

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ORHS Ensemble with JazzKat Trumpeter

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The Secret is Out, and Swing is In! If you’re In the Mood, catch the Choo Choo Ch’Boogie.

Jump off at Tuxedo Junction, and we’ll Sing, Sing, Sing to Minnie the Moocher!

Grab your Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and put on your dancing shoes.

Join the Oak Ridge High School Ensemble and JazzKats on Friday, February 13, at 7 p.m. at the Historic Grove Theater for a program of “swingin’ tunes and hot dancing that is sure to please all the hepcats in town.”

It’s a fundraising 1940s concert and dance party. [Read more…]

Senate passes Manhattan Project park bill that includes Oak Ridge

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Manhattan Project Park Sites

Note: This story was last updated at 11 a.m. Dec. 14.

House approved bill last week; legislation now headed to President Obama

After years of work, the U.S. Senate has passed a bill to set up a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that includes Oak Ridge, a once-secret city that played a key role in ending World War II. The legislation passed the U.S. House last week, and it now goes to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law.

Besides Oak Ridge, the park will include Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. Those two cities were also part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to develop the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. [Read more…]

U.S. House passes Manhattan Project park bill that includes Oak Ridge

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 p.m.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include Oak Ridge, federal officials said Thursday afternoon.

Passage of the bill, pursued for years by historic preservationists, was announced by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander and Representative Chuck Fleischmann, both Tennessee Republicans. It was an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which passed in a 300-119 vote.

The bill would designate three sites that were part of the World War II-era Manhattan Project. Besides Oak Ridge, the sites include Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. The U.S. Senate is expected to pass the 2015 NDAA legislation without amendments before adjourning for the Christmas recess, perhaps as early as next week, according to the Atomic Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that has helped lead efforts to establish the park for more than a decade.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs. Oak Ridge sites that would be included in the park are the Beta-3 racetracks and Alpha Calutron magnets at Y-12 National Security Complex and the K-25 Building site at the East Tennessee Technology Park. [Read more…]

With deadline looming, supporters hopeful that Manhattan Project parks legislation will pass

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Manhattan Project National Historical Park House Hearing

Pictured above at a June 28, 2012, 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.

An amendment introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday includes the creation of a long-sought-after Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include Oak Ridge, and supporters are hopeful that the legislation, which has bipartisan support, will pass before the end of the legislative session.

The bill appears to have a “really good chance of moving forward,” said Kati Schmidt, spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Besides Oak Ridge, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park would also include Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. Those three areas were among the sites involved in the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

There is currently no national park commemorating the project, which is considered one of the most significant events of the 20th century. Historic preservationists, including in Oak Ridge and at the Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., have tried for years to change that. [Read more…]

DOE to begin Building K-31 demolition on Wednesday

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K-31 Transite Panel Removal

Workers began removing transite paneling from the outside of the K-31 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park earlier this year. (May 2014 DOE Photo/Lynn Freeny)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy will start demolishing Building K-31 at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, on Wednesday afternoon, and reporters have been invited to witness the beginning of the work.

The event is meant to provides participants, including senior DOE and contractor leadership, a “firsthand look at the continuing cleanup and transformation at the East Tennessee Technology Park,” a media advisory said.

The K-25 site was built to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II. It’s been shut down since the mid-1980s, and ETTP is slowly being converted into a large industrial park.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Award-winning author of ‘Bomb’ to visit Oak Ridge, stop at AMSE

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Bomb

By Scot Smith

The American Museum of Science and Energy will host award-winning author Steve Sheinkin on Tuesday, October 7. Among other books, Sheinkin has written “Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon.”

Sheinkin’s presentation at AMSE is scheduled for 6 p.m. October 7. His other public presentation will be for the University of Tennessee’s Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. That lecture will take place on Monday, October 6, at 7 p.m. in the Hodges Library Auditorium on the UT campus, a press release said. Books will be available for purchase and signing at both events.

During his stay in East Tennessee, Sheinkin will also present programs for students at Oak Ridge School and Jefferson and Robertsville Middle Schools, the Webb School, and the Episcopal School of Knoxville. [Read more…]

Alexander Inn, Family Pride to receive historic preservation award

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Guest House Senior Living Concept

Artist concept of the Guest House/Alexander Inn Senior Living Center. (Images courtesy ORHPA)

The company converting a historic two-story hotel in Jackson Square into an assisted living center will receive a historic preservation award on Thursday. The award presentation will be held at the front door of the Guest House/Alexander Inn at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

“When Rick Dover and Family Pride acquired the property in May 2013, it was in total disrepair,” a press release said. “A $6 million investment will restore this beloved icon to its former glory.”

“We’re going to faithfully restore this building to its original look, from the soda-fountain bar in the lobby to the beautiful wide porch out front,” Dover said.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and is included as part of the proposed new Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge. It’s been removed from an annual list of endangered places in East Tennessee published by the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.

Top military leaders and scientists once stayed at the Alexander Inn. The renovation by Family Pride started in July 2013, the culmination of a years-long preservation effort. [Read more…]

Medal of Honor recipients honored at Y-12

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Medal of Honor Recipients at Y-12 National Security Complex

Medal of Honor recipients Herschel “Woody” Williams (USMC, WWII, Iwo Jima); Ron Rosser (US Army, Ponggilli, Korea); and Wesley Fox (USMC, Quang Tri, Vietnam) were welcomed by CNS President Jim Haynes (far left) and NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart (far right) at the Medal of Honor Town Hall Forum held at Y-12’s New Hope Center on Friday. (Photo courtesy CNS)

 

Three Medal of Honor recipients were honored at the Y-12 National Security Complex during a Town Hall Forum on Friday, part of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s annual convention held in Knoxville last week.

The Medal of Honor recipients honored at Y-12 were Herschel “Woody” Williams (U.S. Marine Corps, Iwo Jima, World War II), Ron Rosser (U.S. Army, Ponggilli, Korea) and Wesley Fox (USMC, Quang Tri, Vietnam). They were welcomed at Y-12’s New Hope Center by CNS President Jim Haynes and Steve Erhart, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office.

The three recipients discussed their experiences and answered questions from the public. Williams and Rosser also toured the Y-12 National Security complex with Haynes and Y-12 Historian Ray Smith. The group visited 9731, Y-12’s pilot plant during the Manhattan Project, and the south ridge of the site.

Many of the honorees also visited area schools, where Tennessee leads the nation in adopting the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation’s Character Development Program. To learn more about the program, go to http://www.mohknoxville.com/character-development/.

See also this story from the Medal of Honor Town Hall at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Y-12 hosts Medal of Honor recipients at Town Hall Forum

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The Medal of Honor Knoxville Convention Committee has chosen the Y-12 National Security Complex to host a community event Friday, September 12, at 10 a.m., during this year’s convention.

Several Medal of Honor recipients will participate in a Town Hall Forum at Y-12’s New Hope Center located at 602 Scarboro Road.

The forum will be moderated by Hallerin Hilton Hill from WOKI’s Newstalk 98.7.The community is invited to attend, listen to recipients tell their stories, and answer questions from the audience.

Currently scheduled recipients for this Town Hall Forum include men who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. [Read more…]