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Read Manhattan Project Park agreement here

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And with a handshake, there’s a new national park. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz shake hands immediately after signing a memorandum of agreement that created the 409th park in the National Park System, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The ceremony took place at the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 2015. The park was authorized by Congress in December 2014. The park will have three sites in Hanford, Washington; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung)

 

After more than a decade of work, the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Interior formally established the Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Tuesday. The new park, which includes Oak Ridge, commemorates one of the signature scientific achievements of the 20th century. It was formally established when Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz signed a memorandum of agreement, or MOA, in Washington, D.C.

The unique, three-site Manhattan Project National Historical Park includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. It’s the nation’s 409th park.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

Read the memorandum of agreement signed Tuesday here. See a story on the park and Tuesday’s signing ceremony here. See photos by the National Park Service here.

Manhattan Project Park formally established in DC ceremony

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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 ceremony took place at the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 2015. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung.)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9 a.m. Nov. 11.

After more than a decade of work, the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Interior formally established the Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Tuesday. The new park, which includes Oak Ridge, commemorates one of the signature scientific achievements of the 20th century. It was formally established when Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz signed a memorandum of agreement, or MOA, in Washington, D.C.

The unique, three-site Manhattan Project National Historical Park includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. It’s the nation’s 409th park.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II—before Germany could. It was an unprecedented national program, a world-changing event that harnessed the atom, and the largest industrial project ever, employing 130,000 people at just the three park sites. Whole cities and gigantic industrial plants were built in just a few short years, and Oak Ridge quickly swelled to a population of 75,000. Plants like the B Reactor at Hanford, the world’s first large-scale plutonium production reactor, were built in 11 months, still considered a marvelous feat today. The Manhattan Project is credited with helping to end World War II through its creation of the two atomic bombs dropped over Japan in August 1945.

During Tuesday’s ceremony, officials said the Manhattan Project was a groundbreaking scientific and engineering achievement that helped end the war, ushered in the nuclear age and new discoveries, and determined how the Cold War would be fought. But it also raised important moral questions about the devastating consequences of nuclear weapons. Officials vowed to tell all sides of the story during the signing ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning.

“You can trust us with this story,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said. “We will be fair to all.” [Read more…]

Interior, Energy to sign agreement establishing Manhattan Project Park

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Building 9204-3 at Y-12

Building 9204-3 at the Y-12 National Security Complex could be among those included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Also known as Beta 3, Building 9204-3 has beta calutrons that produced stable isotopes until 1998 and are still on standby. (Photo courtesy of Y-12 National Security Complex.)

 

Note: This story was updated at 7 p.m.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz will sign a memorandum of agreement, or MOA, in Washington, D.C., to establish the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which will include Oak Ridge.

The new park will be the first of its type to commemorate the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. The park will have three locations: Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford, Washington.

National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis will attend the Tuesday morning ceremony along with U.S. senators Lamar Alexander, Maria Cantwell, Martin Heinrich, and Tom Udall, who represent each of the park’s locations. Leaders of the communities that will host the park, including Oak Ridge, will attend the ceremony. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge to celebrate new Manhattan Project Park on Nov. 12

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Oak Ridge will have two community events on November 12 to celebrate the establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. That proposal has been in the works for years to commemorate the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

The legislation authorizing the park was signed into law in December 2014, and it designated sites in Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington as a new three-site national park.

The Oak Ridge City Council has designated the week of November 9-15 as
“The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Week.”

Events have been scheduled at Oak Ridge High School and in Historic Jackson Square on Thursday, November 12, two days after a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. The two Oak Ridge events will celebrate the establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. [Read more…]

DOE, Interior to sign agreement for Manhattan Project Park on Nov. 10

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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 Manhattan Project National Historical Park. There is a separate effort to preserve the site’s history; that work could be incorporated into the new park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

 

The U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Energy will sign an agreement on Tuesday, November 10, that establishes the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge.

The memorandum of agreement, or MOA, will be signed by federal officials that Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C.

Besides Oak Ridge, the park will include Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. [Read more…]

City officials meet with NPS, DOE, other communities to discuss Manhattan Project park

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Chuck Hope

Chuck Hope

A delegation from the City of Oak Ridge recently traveled to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to participate in a meeting with officials from the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Energy, and from Los Alamos and the Hanford communities to discuss the newly designated Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The meeting was sponsored by the Energy Communities Alliance, or ECA, which supported attendance at the meeting with travel grants to the participants.

The three-day event, with more than 50 in attendance, began with a tour of the cultural resources and Manhattan Project era sites at Los Alamos National Laboratory. David Klaus, deputy under secretary of management and performance with DOE, was the keynote speaker. He emphasized the importance of preserving the history of the Manhattan Project, and pointed to the important scientific and technological advancements that originated from that era.

Victor Knox, associate director for park planning, facilities, and lands for the National Park Service, then briefed attendees on the status of a memorandum of agreement, or MOA, currently under development by DOE and NPS. The draft MOA, which has been released for public comment, will govern the respective roles of the secretary of interior and secretary of energy in administering the park and its facilities. Completion of the MOA is the first major milestone required by the enacting legislation, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last December. [Read more…]