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The legacy of Bill Wilcox lives on at K-25 History Center

Posted at 10:01 am October 20, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian, announces a book published posthumously that was written by Bill Wilcox, a former city historian, former technical director at K-25 and Y-12, and a passionate advocate for historic preservation, including the history of the former K-25 site. Smith announced the book at a ceremony unveiling plans for a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at the the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian, announces a book published posthumously that was written by Bill Wilcox, a former city historian, former technical director at K-25 and Y-12, and a passionate advocate for historic preservation, including of the former K-25 site. Smith announced the book at a ceremony unveiling plans for a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at K-25, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

He was a passionate advocate for preserving Oak Ridge’s history.

He was known for his bow ties and captivating storytelling. He once led the effort to save the former K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge, or at least part of it.

Now the legacy of Bill Wilcox will live on at the K-25 History Center.

Construction on the history center could start early next year on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number Four. That fire station, previously transferred to the city, is on the south side of the former K-25 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

Officials preparing for the construction of the history center gave tours of its future home at the fire station on Thursday. The tours followed a lunchtime celebration that featured tributes to Wilcox and included speeches and presentations by U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge officials, and federal contractors and historic preservation advocates. Wilcox was hailed as the “father of K-25 historic preservation.”

“He would have been really proud,” said Ray Smith, Wilcox’s friend and Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian. “His legacy lives on.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Front Page News, K-25, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: 75th anniversary, Alexander Guest House, Alexander Inn, atomic weapons, Bill Wilcox, Clinton Engineer Works, Cold War, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, equipment building, ETTP, gaseous diffusion, Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Gordon Fee, Hanford, Heritage Center, Hiroshima, history center, Jay Mullis, K-25 Building, K-25 Historic Preservation, K-25 History Center, K-25: A Brief History of the Manhattan Project’s ‘Biggest’ Secret, K-27, K-29, K-31, K-33, Ken Rueter, Little Boy, Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Mick Wiest, Nagasaki, National Historic Preservation Act, North Tower, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Fire Station Number Four, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Partnership for K-25 Preservation, Ray Smith, Steve Goodpasture, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium enrichment, viewing tower, Warren Gooch, World War II, X-10, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex

Peace activists will remember Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings, call for ban on nuclear weapons

Posted at 11:13 am August 4, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

OREPA-Ralph-Hutchison-Aug-6-2016-2

Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, is pictured above during a rally at Alvin K. Bissell Park on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Peace activists will have events in Oak Ridge and Knoxville starting Saturday and ending Wednesday that will recall the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II, and the activists will call for a ban on nuclear weapons.

The events have been organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. OREPA has events each August remembering the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II. The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime. Code-named “Little Boy,” the bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the end of the war.

OREPA has scheduled a Saturday event called “And We Are Saying Peace.” It will start at 12:30 p.m. with a concert and theater presentation at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. Those who attend will call on the United States to join the countries that passed a legal treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons at the United Nations on July 7, a press release said.

The Saturday event will also mark the conclusion of a peace pilgrimage from Asheville, North Carolina, to Oak Ridge, led by the Buddhist order Nipponzan Myohoji, the press release said. The walk left Asheville last Sunday and is expected to arrive at Bissell Park on Saturday. The final leg will leave Solway at 9 a.m. Saturday. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: atomic bomb, ban on nuclear weapons, Hiroshima, Little Boy, Nagasaki, Names and Remembrance Ceremony, Nipponzan Myohoji, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, OREPA, peace activists, peace lantern ceremony, peace pilgrimage, Ralph Hutchison, treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, UPF, uranium processing facility, W76 warheads, World War II, Y-12 National Security Complex

Two international events proposed for 75th anniversary of DOE, Oak Ridge

Posted at 12:16 pm March 20, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

ORHPA Logo

The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association has proposed that the U.S. Department of Energy and the City of Oak Ridge host two international events during their 75th anniversary.

The events are: (a) an exhibit on the international scientific progress made during the seven decades since World War II and (b) a remembrance of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with special invitations going to representatives of the 25 countries that suffered the highest casualties during the war, a press release said.

Both the U.S. Department of Energy nuclear complex and the City of Oak Ridge were born in the turbulent year following the Pearl Harbor attack (1942) as part of President Roosevelt’s massive—and super-secret—effort to build the first atomic bomb, the press release said.

“Including these two events in this year’s anniversary would showcase DOE’s important contributions to mankind and enhance international understanding and cooperation,” said Martin McBride, who heads the ORHPA committee on the proposal. “It would also honor all who fell during World War II.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: 75th anniversary, American Museum of Science and Energy, atomic bomb, City of Oak Ridge, DOE, Hiroshima, Martin McBride, Nagasaki, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, ORHPA, ORHPA Anniversary Proposal Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack, President Roosevelt, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II

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

Posted at 11:26 am December 14, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: Business, Federal, Government, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: atomic bombs, atomic weapons, Berkeley Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, calutrons, ceramic insulators, Coors Porcelain Company, Energy Secretary's Appreciation Award, Fat Man, Hiroshima, Japan, Leslie Groves, Little Boy, Los Alamos, Manhattan Engineer District, Manhattan Project, Nagasaki, Richard Condit, Thomas Pauling, U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management, uranium enrichment, uranium-235, William Kistler "Bill" Coors, World War II, Y-12 Plant

OREPA has nuclear disarmament events at A.K. Bissell Park, Y-12 today

Posted at 11:49 am August 6, 2016
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Y-12 OREPA Peace March

About 125 anti-nuclear weapons activists rallied at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2015, before marching almost two miles to the Y-12 National Security Complex. At front from left are JR Dazo of Las Vegas; Ken Jones of Asheville, N.C.; Buddhist monk Denise Laffan of Newport, Tennessee; and Roberto Guzman of Detroit. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance has organized several nuclear disarmament events at Alvin K. Bissell Park and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge today.

There was a names and remembrance ceremony scheduled from 6-9 a.m. today (Saturday, August 6) in front of Y-12, at the intersection of Scarboro and Bear Creek roads. That annual ceremony marks the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II. Uranium for that bomb, code-named Little Boy, was enriched in Oak Ridge.

From 12:30-3:30 p.m. today (Saturday, August 6), OREPA has a Concert for Peace and Rally for Disarmament at Alvin K. Bissell Park with a March for Abolition that starts at the park. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, National Nuclear Security Administration, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alvin K. Bissell Park, Concert for Peace, Hiroshima, Little Boy, March for Abolition, Nagasaki, Names and Remembrance Ceremony, nuclear disarmament, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, peace lantern ceremony, Rally for Disarmament, World War II, Y-12 National Security Complex

Foundation led efforts to create Manhattan Project Park

Posted at 12:47 am November 11, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Cindy-Kelly-Victor-Knox-Stephanie-Toothman-Nov-10-2015

AHF President Cindy Kelly with NPS Associate Directors Victor Knox and Stephanie Toothman. (Photo by Atomic Heritage Foundation)

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Atomic Heritage Foundation on Tuesday welcomed the official establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park with units at Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In a ceremony at the Interior Department on Tuesday morning, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell signed an agreement that defines the respective roles of the Department of Energy and the National Park Service in implementing the new park, a press release said.

“Today is a milestone for Manhattan Project history,” said Foundation President Cynthia C. Kelly, who attended the ceremony along with the Foundation’s staff. “For more than a decade, the Atomic Heritage Foundation and our partners have been working to preserve Manhattan Project sites and create the park. The national park is long overdue and will provide Americans with an important opportunity to understand the Manhattan Project and its complex legacy for the world today.”

The sites of the Manhattan Project Park “are among the world’s most significant places, where work was done that changed the human world forever,” said Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” and a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: AHF, Atomic Heritage Foundation, Cindy Kelly, Cynthia C. Kelly, Ernie Moniz, Hanford, Hiroshima, Interior Department, Lamar Alexander, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Maria Cantwell, Martin Heinrich, memorandum of agreement, Nagasaki, National Park Service, NPS, Oak Ridge, Richard Rhodes, Sally Jewell, Stephanie Toothman, Tom Udall, U.S. Department of Energy, Victor Knox

Manhattan Project Park formally established in DC ceremony

Posted at 11:20 am November 10, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Sally-Jewell-Ernest-Moniz-Manhattan-Project-National-Historical-Park-Nov-10-2015-1

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…]

Filed Under: Federal, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Alexander Inn, atomic bombs, B Reactor, Beta 3, Building 9204-3, Building 9371, Cold War, D. Ray Smith, Department of the Interior, Ernest Moniz, Graphite Reactor, Hanford, Hiroshima, Jonathan B. Jarvis, K-25 Building, Lamar Alexander, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Maria Cantwell, Martin Heinrich, memorandum of agreement, MOA, Nagasaki, National Defense Authorization Act, National Park Service, NPS, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sally Jewell, Tom Beehan, Tom Udall, U.S. Department of Energy, Vic Knox, World War II, X-10, Y-12 National Security Complex

Three years after break-in, protesters return to Y-12

Posted at 7:36 pm August 8, 2015
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed at Y-12

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex and vandalized a uranium storage building three years ago returned to the nuclear weapons plant during a march in Oak Ridge on Saturday. The three protesters—from left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed—object to nuclear weapons and the planned Uranium Processing Facility. Here they are pictured on Scarboro Road across from Y-12. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. August 9.

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex and vandalized a uranium storage building three years ago returned to the nuclear weapons plant during a march in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

The march and rally were organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance as part of a series of events that commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, near the end of World War II. Uranium for the first bomb, the Little Boy atomic bomb that was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was enriched at Y-12.

The three protesters—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—were convicted on two felony charges on May 8, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. But their conviction on the more serious felony sabotage charge was overturned two years later, on May 8, 2015, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. Boertje-Obed, Rice, and Walli were released on May 16 and have a re-sentencing hearing on September 15 in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DOE, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: anti-nuclear weapons activists, Ardeth Platte, atomic bomb, Carol Gilbert, Denise Laffan, Greg Boertje-Obed, HEUMF, Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, Hiroshima, Japan, JR Dazo, Ken Jones, march, Megan Rice, Michael Walli, Nagasaki, New Hope Center, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, peace cranes, property depredation, rally, Ralph Hutchison, Roberto Guzman, sabotage, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, U.S. District Court, UPF, uranium processing facility, uranium storage building, World War II, Y-12 National Security Complex

OREPA has events in Oak Ridge, Knoxville on 70th anniversary of WWII bombings

Posted at 11:23 am August 4, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Ralph Hutchison

Ralph Hutchison

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance has a series of events in Oak Ridge and Knoxville this week on the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II.

The events will recall the bombings and address present-day nuclear weapons production, a press release said.

The events kicked off with an evening with Gar Alperovitz, author of “The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb,” at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville on Sunday and continued on Monday with faith leaders speaking about the bomb in Market Square in Knoxville.

They continue today (Tuesday, August 4.) Here’s the schedule: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Meetings and Events, Nonprofits, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: 2013 DOE Tennessee Science Bowl, bombings, Church of the Savior, Greg Boertje-Obed, Hiroshima, Japan, Megan Rice, Michael Walli, Nagasaki, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Ralph Hutchison, World War II, Y-12 National Security Complex

Atomic Heritage meets with Japanese mayors to discuss Manhattan Project park

Posted at 9:06 am May 8, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

AHF Meets with Nagasaki and Hiroshima Mayors

AHF President Cindy Kelly with Nagasaki Mayor Tomahisa Taue on her right and Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui on her left. (Photo by AHF)

 

The Atomic Heritage Foundation, the nonprofit organization that worked for 15 years to create a Manhattan Project national park, met with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this month to discuss how the story of the atomic bomb will be interpreted.

The meeting, which was held at the Institute of International Education at the United Nations Plaza in New York City, marked a “positive first step in opening a dialogue with the Japanese, whose input will be important to the interpretation of the new park,” a press release said. In addition to the two mayors, the Atomic Heritage Foundation also met with Japanese local government officials.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first nuclear weapons during World War II. The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will include Oak Ridge; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford, Washington.

The meeting in New York City on Friday, May 1, began with opening remarks from Nagasaki Mayor Tomahisa Taue and Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, who described the suffering of those affected by the atomic bombing, a press release said. They expressed hope that interpretation of the new Manhattan Project Park would not end with the dropping of the bomb but also “focus on what happened under the mushroom cloud.”

The United States dropped one bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, and a second over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Japan surrendered a few days later. Uranium for the first weapon, code-named “Little Boy,” was enriched at federal sites in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: AHF, Alexander Inn, atomic bomb, Atomic Heritage Foundation, bomb, Building 9204-3, Cindy Kelly, Cynthia Kelly, Graphite Reactor, Hanford, hibakusha, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Institute of International Education, Japan, Japan Confederation of A- and H- bomb Sufferers, K-25 Building, Kazumi Matsui, Little Boy, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Nagasaki, Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, national park, National Park Service, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge, Sueichi Kido, Tomahisa Taue, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II

Atomic Heritage to discuss Manhattan Project interpretation with Japanese mayors

Posted at 2:18 am April 30, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Hiroshima Peace Bell

Hiroshima Peace Bell (Source: Atomic Heritage Foundation)

 

The Atomic Heritage Foundation will meet Friday with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to discuss the interpretation of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort in World War II to create an atomic bomb, and its legacy for the world today, a press release said.

The meeting will be at the Institute of International Education at the United Nations Plaza in New York.

The Atomic Heritage Foundation led efforts to establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park for more than a decade. (The City of Oak Ridge also supported the park and lobbied for it.) The park was approved in legislation that passed Congress in December, and it includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

“Now AHF is working on the interpretation of the park and welcomes a dialogue with the Japanese to consider this world-changing history from both an American and an international perspective,” the press release said. “The meeting with the mayors is a first step in the process.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, AHF, American Museum of Atomic Energy, atomic bomb, Atomic Heritage Foundation, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association, Caroline Kennedy, City of Oak Ridge, Clarence Moriwaki, Congress, Cynthia C. Kelly, Hanford, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Institute of International Education, Japan Confederation of A- and H- bomb Sufferers Organization, Jon Jarvis, Kazumi Matsui, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act, Nagasaki, National Park Service, Oak Ridge, Tomihisa Taue, U.S. Department of Energy, United Nations Plaza, World War II

Letter from Prison: Y-12 protesters’ statement on second anniversary of break-in

Posted at 5:06 am July 30, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Letters Leave a Comment

Transform Now Plowshares

Note: This is a copy of a letter sent Monday from the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center by Sr. Megan Rice, on behalf of the Transform Now Plowshares.

We send warm greetings and many thanks to all who actively engage in the transformation of weapons of mass destruction to sustainable life-giving alternatives. Gregory Boertje-Obed (U.S. Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas) Michael Walli (Federal Correctional Institution McKean, Bradford, Pennsylvania), and I are sending you some of our observations and concerns on the second anniversary of our Transform Now Plowshares action.

On July 28, 2012, after thorough study of nuclear issues, and because of our deepening commitment to nonviolence, we engaged in direct action by cutting through four fences at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the U.S. continues to overhaul and upgrade thermonuclear warheads.

On that day, two years ago, when we reached the building where all U.S. highly enriched (bomb-grade) uranium is stored, we prayed and also wrote messages on the wall, such as “The Fruit of Justice is Peace.” (Realistically, the higher and stronger fences built as a result of our nonviolent incursion can never keep humans safe from inherently dangerous materials and weapons.) We acted humbly as “creative extremists for love,” to cite one of our most important and revered leaders, Martin Luther King Jr.

There are a number of reasons for what we did. We three were acutely mindful of the widespread loss to humanity that nuclear systems have already caused, and we realize that all life on Earth could be exterminated through intentional, accidental, or technical error. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Letters, Opinion Tagged With: atomic bomb, bomb-grade uranium, Brooklyn Metropolitan Center, deterrence, disarmament, Greg Boertje-Obed, highly enriched uranium, Hiroshima, Megan Rice, Michael Walli, Nagasaki, nuclear materials, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Nuclear Systems, nuclear tests, nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons complex, Oak Ridge, Pantex, security, thermonuclear warheads, Transform Now Plowshares, uranium processing facility, weapons of mass destruction, weapons-making materials, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex

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Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Lithium Production Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

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