Oak Ridge Today

NPS, DOE release document to help guide planning, management at Manhattan Project Park

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Manhattan Project National Historical Park Foundation Document Cover February 2017

After a year of work and open houses in three cities, federal officials have released a document that will be used to guide planning and management at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge.

The National Park Service and U.S. Department of Energy announced Friday that the planning and management document, known as the Final Foundation Document, has been released. It’s available online.

The Foundation Document is the result of public input and joint planning by DOE and the NPS. In February 2016, the two federal agencies held workshops in Oak Ridge, as well as in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. Hanford and Los Alamos are also part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The open houses in the three communities, which had Manhattan Project research and production centers during World War II, gathered input from “stakeholders and interested parties” related to the important resources, stories, and opportunities for the park. The National Park Service has posted a summary of the open house comments, grouped into 11 areas, which you can see below. [Read more…]

Coors, the beer brewer, honored for Manhattan Project work on Y-12 ceramic insulators

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bill-coors-manhattan-project-recognition

From left to right standing are Colin Colverson, Oak Ridge Site Representative and Office of General Counsel; Padraic Benson, historian, Office of Legacy Management; Tracy Atkins, Principal Representative Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Office of Legacy Management; and Thomas Pauling, Acting Director, Office of Legacy Management. Seated in front is Bill Coors. (Photo courtesy DOE Office of Legacy Management)

 

William Kistler “Bill” Coors is best known for the beer brewed in the Rocky Mountains, but he was honored by federal officials this month for his historic work building ceramic insulators that were used in Oak Ridge to help build the world’s first atomic bombs.

On December 2, Coors received the Energy Secretary’s Appreciation Award in Golden, Colorado, which is west of Denver and at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

The award was presented by U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Acting Director Thomas Pauling. It recognizes Coors’ historic role in providing critical insulators to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Manhattan Engineer District, also known as the Manhattan Project, during World War II, a press release said. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during the war—before Germany could.

The ceramic insulators were used in uranium enrichment operations at the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, which was built as part of the Manhattan Project. [Read more…]

First year: More than 80,000 visit three Manhattan Project Park sites in 2016

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The late Bill Wilcox by the International Friendship Bell in Oak Ridge. (Courtesy of Friends of the International Friendship Bell via Atomic Heritage Foundation)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12 p.m. Dec. 8.

More than 80,000 people have visited the three sites of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, according to a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C.

Besides Oak Ridge, the park includes Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

In Oak Ridge, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park has a volunteer or ranger at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge when the museum is open. The park also has activities. For example, there is a program on secrecy, security, and spies at the Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse in west Oak Ridge on Saturday, December 17. And the park, in partnership with the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, will be featuring a Parks in Focus photography exhibit during the month of December. The photography exhibit is located in the Imagination Gallery at the museum located at 461 West Outer Drive.

Also, a virtual tour of the K-25 Building can be found at the new K-25 Virtual Museum website. And from March to November, admission to AMSE includes a three-hour bus tour of the Oak Ridge Reservation, including the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, New Bethel Church at ORNL, the visitor overlook at the East Tennessee Technology Park (former home to the K-25 gaseous diffusion building), and Y-12 New Hope History Center. [Read more…]

Photos: History talk at Freels Bend Cabin, city’s oldest structure

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freels-bend-cabin-presentation-6-oct-13-2016-smith

Aaron Astor, an associate history professor at Maryville College, discussed life along the Clinch River in Anderson and Roane counties before Oak Ridge was built in a special meeting at the historic Freels Bend Cabin on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016 during a meeting of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. The Freels Bend Cabin was built in 1844, and it is the oldest structure in Oak Ridge. It’s on the National Historic Register. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

 

Aaron Astor, an associate history professor at Maryville College, discussed life along the Clinch River in Anderson and Roane counties before Oak Ridge was built in a special meeting at the historic Freels Bend Cabin on Thursday, October 13.

It was the monthly public and membership meeting of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. Here are pictures by D. Ray Smith.

The Freels Bend Cabin was built in 1844, and it is the oldest structure in Oak Ridge. It’s on the National Historic Register. [Read more…]

Secrecy, security, spies program at Turnpike Gatehouse on Saturday

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The Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse is pictured above on the west end of town. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse is pictured above on the west end of town. (Submitted photo)

 

A Manhattan Project National Historical Park program in west Oak Ridge on Saturday will give visitors some insight into what life was like in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project with all the security, the need for secrecy, and the worrying about spies.

The program is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, September 10, at the Turnpike Gatehouse. It’s free and open to the public. Parking is limited, so please try to carpool if possible. The gatehouse is also at a trail head for the North Boundary Greenway, and visitors can go for a self-guided hike after the program.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park was established in November 2015. It includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II, before Germany could. Oak Ridge was a production site for the project, and at the time, it was a secret city not shown on maps. [Read more…]

Historic day: Last wall to be demolished at last of big five uranium-enriching buildings at ETTP (K-25)

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K-27 Demolition Aug 17 2016 Freeny

The last wall of the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium at the former K-25 site will be demolished Tuesday. A section of the K-27 Building, the last to be demolished, is pictured above on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

The last wall of the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium at the former K-25 site will be demolished Tuesday.

Demolition on the last building, the K-27 Building, started in February.

The other four buildings—K-25, K-29, K-31, and K-33—were demolished between 2006 and 2015. All five of the huge buildings once used a process called gaseous diffusion to produce highly enriched uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants, starting during World War II and continuing through the Cold War. The largest was K-25, a mile-long U-shaped building.

When K-27 demolition is complete, it will be the first time that all of a site’s uranium-enriching gaseous diffusion buildings will have been cleaned up anywhere in the world, officials said.

“Demolition eliminates environmental hazards and prepares the land for productive reuse through deindustrialization,” a media advisory said. [Read more…]

Demolition work on K-27, last of big 5 uranium-enrichment buildings, to be complete this month

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Demolition work should be complete this month on K-27, the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, officials said in July 2016. (DOE photo/Lynn Freeny)

 

Demolition work should be complete this month on K-27, the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, officials said last week.

Demolition work started on K-27 in February.

Like the other four buildings that have already been demolished, the four-story, 383,000-square-foot K-27 building once used a process known as gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium.

The demolition is part of Vision 2016. That’s the plan by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, or EM, to remove all five gaseous diffusion buildings from the site by the end of the year.

Federal officials said it’s the first time in the world that a uranium enrichment complex has been cleaned and removed. [Read more…]

Learn about secrecy, security, spies at Turnpike Gatehouse on July 8

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The Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse is pictured above on the west end of town. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse is pictured above on the west end of town. (Submitted photo)

 

Learn about secrecy, security, and spies in a program presented by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge on Friday, July 8. The program will start at 3 p.m. July 8 at the Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse on the west end of town.

“The program will give visitors some insight to what life was like in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project, with all the security, the need for secrecy, and the worry of spies,” a press release said.

It’s free and open to the public. Parking is limited, so please try to carpool if possible. The gatehouse is also at a trail head for the North Boundary Greenway, and visitors can go for a self-guided hike after the program.

Visitors that are taking the U.S. Department of Energy public tour are encouraged to attend the program after the tour. [Read more…]

DOE: Oak Ridge’s Building K-27 being torn down quickly

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K-27 Demolition

Crews are moving at an impressive pace on Building K-27, completing more than 65 percent of the demolition since February. (Photo by DOE)

 

In February 2016, demolition crews started tearing down the K-27 gaseous diffusion building.

Now, only months later, the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor UCOR have already completed demolition on more than 65 percent of the four-story, 383,000-square-foot facility, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

K-27 is the last of five large gaseous diffusion facilities to be torn down at the East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, which was formerly known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant and often referred to as the former K-25 site.

“Due to the heavy contamination and state of the 1940s facility, K-27 was one of the environmental management’s highest cleanup priorities,” the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in a May 31 newsletter. “The progress taking down the facility moves EM closer to fulfilling its Vision 2016—the removal of all five gaseous diffusion buildings from the site by year’s end. It is not only a significant goal for EM and Oak Ridge, but it will also mark the first time in the world that a uranium enrichment complex has been cleaned and removed.” [Read more…]

National Park Service, DOE have three meetings on Manhattan Project Park

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Oak-Ridge-Group-Manhattan-Project-National-Historical-Park-Signing-Nov-10-2015

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz shortly after they signed a memorandum of agreement and created the 409th park in the National Park System, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park was authorized by Congress in December 2014. The park will have three sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The signing ceremony took place at the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 10, 2015. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung)

 

First meeting on Monday, February 1

The National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Energy will have three public meetings in early February to solicit input on planning for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The meetings will be held at the three sites associated with the park: Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The public is encouraged to come to the meetings and meet with representatives of the NPS and the DOE to share their thoughts about the key stories and interpretive ideas related to the park.

Locally, there will be a public meeting held on Monday, February 1, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (Eastern time) at Oak Ridge High School (in the Food Court) at 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

DOE launches K-25 Virtual Museum, helps preserve history of Manhattan Project site

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Making-History-K-25-Timeline

Photo from K-25 Virtual Museum/U.S. Department of Energy

 

Information from the January 2016 issue of “Advocate,” a publication of the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board

A new virtual museum helps preserve the history of the former K-25 site, which was built in west Oak Ridge to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during World War II and once had the world’s largest building under one roof.

The K-25 Virtual Museum was launched in November by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) as part of a memorandum of agreement for the interpretation of the historic site now known as East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP.

The debut of the online museum coincided with the November 10 signing of an agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Interior establishing the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal effort to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

The K-25 Virtual Museum can be viewed at http://www.k-25virtualmuseum.org/.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge celebrates new national park

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National Park Celebration at Jackson Square on Nov. 12, 2015

The iconic “War Ends” photo is recreated in part on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, with a “Park Opens” photo that celebrates the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 a.m. Nov. 13.

Federal officials established the new national park that includes Oak Ridge on Tuesday. Oak Ridge residents celebrated on Thursday.

The new park, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, commemorates the Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II, before Germany could.

Oak Ridge was the main production site for the Manhattan Project, and uranium enriched at the Y-12 National Security Complex fueled the first atomic bomb used in wartime. It was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the war ended. [Read more…]