Oak Ridge Today

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…]

Signing ceremony for Manhattan Project park on Nov. 10 in DC

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Hanford B Reactor

The Hanford B Reactor (Photo courtesy Atomic Heritage Foundation)

 

By Atomic Heritage Foundation

The birthday of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, is now set for November 10, 2015.

While the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act became law on December 19, 2014, the Act requires that the Departments of Energy and Interior reach an agreement within a year of enactment on their respective roles in implementing the new park. At that time, the park will be officially established.

We understand that the Departments of Energy and the National Park Service leaders are close to an agreement. Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz and Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell are scheduled to have a signing ceremony on Tuesday, November 10, in Washington, D.C.

The Manhattan Project Park Act passed after the National Park Service’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget was in place, so the funds available in 2016 for NPS’s work on the park are limited to $180,000.

NPS Associate Director Victor Knox talked about 2016 as a transitional year for the new park, as the Park Service assumes management and focuses on how best to interpret the story of the Manhattan Project. The Department of Energy and its laboratories have been funding a variety of activities this year and have developed a five-year budget plan for restoring and providing public access to its historic assets. [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…]

Despite lobbying, Manhattan Project park HQ proposed in Denver

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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)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:10 p.m. July 29.

Local officials had proposed locating it in Oak Ridge, but federal officials have proposed locating the headquarters for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Denver.

The new park, which is still in the planning stages, would include three sites: Oak Ridge; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

A National Park Service release on Tuesday said there would be a site manager for each location who will coordinate with local U.S. Department of Energy staff, Tribes, community members, and area partners. The site managers will report to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park’s superintendent, who will be located at an NPS central office that has been proposed in Denver. [Read more…]

Gooch: Main Street No. 1 priority, gives updates on National Park, reappraisals, airport

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Main Street Oak Ridge Site Plan April 16, 2015

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch on Tuesday said his number one priority for the community is the successful development of Main Street Oak Ridge, which would redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall. Pictured above is a cropped picture of the Main Street Oak Ridge site plan as of April 16. A link to a larger PDF version of the plan is included in the story below.

 

Note: Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch gave an update on positive developments and challenges during a talk to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge on Tuesday, May 5. Here is a lightly edited version of his remarks, which organized the positive developments and challenges into sections. Gooch was appointed mayor by the seven-member Oak Ridge City Council on November 24. This is his first four-year term on the City Council.

It is a distinct privilege for me to serve as your mayor, but I always preface my remarks by saying that I am not speaking today for Council or for the city manager. I have one vote on Council, but I do consider myself to be the chairman of the board of directors for the city.

In that capacity, as I enter my sixth month of service as mayor, I want to share my thoughts about positive developments in our city, discuss near-term challenges that we face, share the results that I have from the community survey that I have been conducting, and leave time for your questions and comments.

First. My number one priority for our community is the successful development of Main Street Oak Ridge (which would redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall), and it is moving forward. Last week, Crosland Southeast announced that MDC Development Group of Atlanta will be the hotel developer for the project. MDC is also a major developer in the senior housing industry and 15 months ago opened Canterfield Oak Ridge Assisted Living. It has been very successful and well-received in our community.

I was advised yesterday (Monday, May 4) that the retail leasing component of the Main Street project is moving forward, as are the negotiations with a developer for the multi-family housing component of the Main Street project. Groundbreaking and demolition for Main Street is on schedule to begin by June 30. [Read more…]

Planning for national park, Park Service tours Jackson Square, K-25, ORNL, Y-12

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Vic Knox of National Park Service

Vic Knox (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

Note: This story was last updated at 12:37 p.m.

Planning for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park has started, and federal officials this week toured Jackson Square, the former K-25 site, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Stops included the Alexander Inn, Chapel on the Hill, the former K-25 Building site, the Graphite Reactor at ORNL, and two buildings at Y-12: Building 9731, a pilot plant, and Building 9204-3, also known as Beta 3.

“Several of those sites are just amazing,” said Vic Knox, associate director of park planning, facilities, and lands for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. “They seem like they are just the way they were in 1943. It seems like they take you back in time.”

Oak Ridge was built as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s fist atomic weapons during World War II. Besides Oak Ridge, the new national park includes Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. [Read more…]

City Council schedules special meeting for ORPD review, investigation

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Oak Ridge City Council on Feb. 9, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Feb. 9, agreed to a third-party review of turnover and morale in the Oak Ridge Police Department but rejected requests for two other probes. On Monday, March 9, the Council did not consider a proposal from the Municipal Technical Advisory Service to conduct the 30-day review, but members did call for a special meeting on Friday, March 27, to consider a review or investigation. (File photo)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 p.m.

Despite concerns about the timing, the Oak Ridge City Council later this month will consider steps that could be used to help review or investigate—there has been a dispute over which word to use—the turnover, morale, and administrative policies in the Oak Ridge Police Department.

City Council members Trina Baughn and Rick Chinn requested the special meeting, and they asked that it be held at 6 p.m. Friday, March 27. They said the meeting could be used to discuss and vote on the parameters of an investigation and possibly select an investigator. The two members also want the Council to consider the merits, and possibly vote on, placing Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi on administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing.

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch expressed concern about having the special meeting that week because officials from the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Energy are expected to be in town. Gooch, who would prefer to discuss the issues in a regular meeting, said he thought it would be a mistake to have a special meeting like this that could interfere with the visit by NPS and DOE officials. [Read more…]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park to reopen tonight

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Cades Cove

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation’s most visited national park, will reopen for five days starting tonight and continuing through Sunday.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation’s most visited national park, will reopen for five days starting tonight (Tuesday night/Wednesday morning) and continuing through Sunday, Gov. Bill Haslam said.

The park has been closed because Congress has failed to pass a spending bill in the fiscal year that started Oct. 1. The closure came during the peak fall tourist season.

“The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is America’s most visited national park, and for the Smokies and the people around it, the month of October is the most important time of the year,” Haslam said. “I remain hopeful that an end to the federal government shutdown will come this week.”

The park will reopen at 12 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 16, and stay open until until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 20, if the shutdown has not ended by then. [Read more…]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed until shutdown ends

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Cades Cove in the Fall

Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is pictured above in the fall of 2010.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in East Tennessee is one of 401 national parks closed because of the federal government shutdown that started Tuesday.

The National Park Service announced that it has closed all visitor facilities at the park, including visitor centers, picnic areas, campgrounds, and trails. Roads are closed except for Newfound Gap Road (Highway 441), including the Spur and the Gatlinburg Bypass. The park will remain closed until the government reopens, the NPS said.

The closure comes during the busy fall season, when many people visit the park for the changing of the leaves. [Read more…]