After a long shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, the K-25 History Center re-opened Monday morning.
The K-25 History Center is located on the south side of the site where the K-25 Building used to be at what is now Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. The K-25 Building was once the world’s largest. The K-25 History Center is on the second floor of the City of Oak Ridge fire station at Heritage Center.
The K-25 site was built during World War II, and it enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. The site was shut down in the 1980s. The site was built as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, and it was to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.
The K-25 History Center tells visitors about the operations at K-25, the purpose of the site, and the people who worked there. It has more than 250 artifacts and interactive exhibits in a 7,500-square-foot space.
The history center closed last year not long after it opened because of the pandemic.
The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. There will be a limited number of people allowed to visit the museum at one time, and because of COVID-19, visitors will be asked to maintain an appropriate physical distance from others and to wear a mask. Visitors will also be asked to answer a few questions about their potential exposure to COVID-19 and whether they might have symptoms such as cough or shortness of breath, and they will be asked to provide a phone number to help with contact tracing if that is required.
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