• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




Passed in House, Manhattan Project Park amendment falls short in Senate

Posted at 6:48 pm December 11, 2013
By John Huotari 6 Comments

K-25 Aerial

Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site could be included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

The legislation to create a Manhattan Project National Park that would include Oak Ridge has fallen short in the U.S. Senate, but the representative from Washington state who wrote the House amendment vowed to press ahead next year.

The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. But it was not included in the final text of the defense bill released late Tuesday night, said U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, the Washington Republican who wrote the amendment.

Besides Oak Ridge, the park would include Hanford, Wash., and Los Alamos, N.M. The three cities played key roles in the Manhattan Project, a top-secret program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

“I’m disappointed, but not deterred,” said Hastings, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. “To all the advocates for this park: You’ve given great energy, enthusiasm, and expertise to this effort to date, and I know that will continue until our goal is accomplished, which I am confident it will ultimately be.”

Building 9731 at Y-12

Building 9731 at Y-12 could also be included in the Manhattan Project park. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

Hastings said the defense bill must be passed by the House and Senate before it can be signed into law. The congressman had a separate amendment for a small transfer of Hanford land.

“The annual defense bill represented the best chance to actually achieve these community priorities this year, and it’s unfortunate that the opportunity has been wasted by the Senate,” Hastings said. “The Senate’s failure to even pass an annual defense bill complicated the ability to get this accomplished, but it could have still happened except for the unwillingness of the Senate to simply agree to include the new park in the final bill and complete the land transfer.”

Cindy Kelly, president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., called the failed amendment a golden opportunity that had been fumbled, the victim of legislative negotiations that got bogged down.

“The process moved on, and we were left on the cutting room floor,” Kelly said Wednesday evening.

X-10 Graphite Reactor

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park would include the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Submitted photo)

Among other things, there had been 507 amendments proposed to the NDAA, and legislators only wanted amendments that came up through the Armed Services Committee.

“Ours was kind of a casualty, at least on the Senate side,” Kelly said.

But the good news is that there is a lot of support for the legislation in both the House and Senate and in the committees of jurisdiction, she said.

Hastings has already promised to get the bill in next year’s NDAA, Kelly said. It’s been ruled germane to that legislation because of the Army’s role in the Manhattan Project and because the top-secret wartime effort led to nuclear weapons.

The bill also failed last year, but that was an end of a session.

“We’re a lot closer this time around than last year because it did go through the House,” Kelly said.

The current session of Congress continues next year, so the bill won’t have to be reintroduced or go back through committees, Kelly said. She said the House and Senate versions of the bill are 97 percent the same.

“This setback is just a minor blip,” Kelly said. “We have all the support that we need.”

Hastings said the House will begin work on its 2015 National Defense Authorization Act in the next few months, and he will keep pushing ahead next year to “again include these priorities in the House bill and provide the Senate another opportunity to do the right thing and get this done.”

In Oak Ridge, the park could include the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Beta 3 Building and 9731 at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the K-25 site at East Tennessee Technology Park. ORNL, Y-12, and ETTP are U.S. Department of Energy or National Nuclear Security Administration sites. The NNSA is an independent agency within DOE.

The park could also include the B Reactor in Hanford, and the Oppenheimer House, V-Site, and Gun Site in Los Alamos.

See a previous story and guest column here and here.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Note: This story was last updated at 9 a.m. Dec. 12.

Filed Under: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Atomic Heritage Foundation, Building 9731, Cindy Kelly, defense bill, Doc Hastings, Hanford, House Natural Resources Committee, K-25 Building, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Manhattan Project National Park, National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA, Oak Ridge, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, World War II

Advertisements

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Government News

Roane State helps with experiment to provide high-speed Internet access to rural communities

Roane State Community College played a crucial role in an experiment to get high-speed Internet to rural communities currently lacking what’s become an essential component of modern life. (Photo by Yvette … [Read More...]

Parking at Melton Lake Park to be closed for regatta March 13 & 14

Rowing at Melton Hill Lake (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge) The parking lots at Melton Lake Park will be closed to the public during a regatta next week. The regatta, the 2021 Oak Ridge Louisville Cardinal … [Read More...]

City of Oak Ridge Seal

Oak Ridge releases water quality report

The annual water quality report is now available for viewing on the City of Oak Ridge website, and the report says Oak Ridge water was in compliance with state and federal drinking water requirements, a press release … [Read More...]

Gov. Lee lifts nursing home restrictions, extends state of emergency

Bill Lee Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Friday said he has extended a limited state of emergency through April 28 and lifted state visitation restrictions on nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The … [Read More...]

TVA conducting maintenance at Bull Run

The Tennessee Valley Authority's Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) The Tennessee Valley Authority is conducting routine … [Read More...]

More Government

More U.S. Department of Energy News

Granholm, a former governor, now energy secretary

Jennifer Granholm Note: This story was updated at 7:30 p.m. Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor, was sworn in as energy secretary on Thursday. Granholm was the first female governor of Michigan, and … [Read More...]

Hear from ORNL scientists who worked on Perseverance mission

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mV1sYjE-zMU Video published on YouTube by Oak Ridge National Laboratory Three scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss their work this afternoon on technologies for the … [Read More...]

Bienvenue named first executive director of Oak Ridge Institute

Joan Bienvenue Joan Bienvenue has been selected as the first executive director of the Oak Ridge Institute at the University of Tennessee. "The institute was established last year to align the expertise and … [Read More...]

ORISE report shows overall number of nuclear engineering degrees increases to highest level since 2016

Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) The number of nuclear engineering degrees awarded in 2019 were at the highest level since … [Read More...]

ORAU receives National Science Foundation grant to study greenhouse gases in Arctic

Praveena Krishnan The National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs has awarded ORAU a collaborative research grant to study greenhouse gas emissions in the Arctic. The award is valued at $581,829. The grant … [Read More...]

More DOE

Recent Posts

  • Roane State helps with experiment to provide high-speed Internet access to rural communities
  • Parking at Melton Lake Park to be closed for regatta March 13 & 14
  • Regatta season starts next week
  • ORISE receives DOE silver award for GreenBuy program
  • Blasius to discuss Downtown Oak Ridge on Tuesday
  • Oak Ridge releases water quality report
  • Granholm, a former governor, now energy secretary
  • Gov. Lee lifts nursing home restrictions, extends state of emergency
  • ORNL FCU will lease space to Anderson County Family Justice Center
  • Basketball photos: Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today