Oak Ridge Today

Reminder: ORHPA celebrates 70th anniversary of end of WWII with special showing of historic movie

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The Beginning or The End

A historic Ed Westcott image of the original showing of the movie, “The Beginning or the End”—The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

Reminder: A 70th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II will feature a special showing of the historic movie “‘The Beginning or the End,’ The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge.”

This movie was Hollywood’s first attempt to tell the fascinating story of the creation of the world’s first atomic bomb in the massive, top-secret Manhattan Project. The movie was originally released in 1947, just two years after the end of the war. It stars Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, and Tom Drake.

The celebration has been organized by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at the Historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Grove Center.

“We wanted to honor those who perished in WWII, our great veterans, Manhattan Project and Cold War workers, and the world-changing Y-12 plant on this anniversary,” said Mick Wiest, president of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. “It’s important to remember and be grateful.” [Read more…]

ORHPA will celebrate 70th anniversary of end of WWII with special showing of historic movie

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The Beginning or The End

A historic Ed Westcott image of the original showing of the movie, “The Beginning or the End”—The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

A 70th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II will feature a special showing of the historic movie “‘The Beginning or the End,’ The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge.”

The celebration has been organized by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at the Historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Grove Center.

The program will include the presentation of the flag by the Volunteer State Honor Guard, patriotic music by the Oak Ridge High School Ensemble, and the special recognition of all veterans, a press release said. Also, a special proclamation will be presented to the Y-12 National Security Complex recognizing 70 years of supporting our nation’s freedom, the release said. [Read more…]

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

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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…]

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

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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…]

K-31 Demolition: 200 acres now available for development at ETTP

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K-31 Demolition

The last section of the K-31 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park was demolished on Friday, June 26. It’s the fourth of five buildings to be demolished where gaseous diffusion was once used to enrich uranium. (Photo by Lynn Freeny/DOE) 

 

Demolition now complete on four of five gaseous diffusion buildings

Demolition of the large K-31 Building in west Oak Ridge means that 200 acres of flat land are now available for industrial development at East Tennessee Technology Park, officials said.

“It’s the largest parcel of land available at ETTP,” said Sue Cange, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

Infrastructure is already in place, including water, sewer, roads, and electricity, Cange said. Also, ETTP is close to Interstate 40, a short rail line, and possibly an airport. (There are plans to build an airport at the site, which is also known as Heritage Center.)

K-31 is the fourth of five gaseous diffusion buildings demolished at ETTP. The site, which has also been known as K-25 and Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, was built during the Manhattan Project in World War II as part of a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs. Officials say it helped to win the Cold War, enriching uranium for commercial nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons.

But operations ended in 1985, and the site was permanently shut down in 1987. DOE then began cleanup operations and—with the help of contractors, a nonprofit organization, and others–is converting it into a large private industrial park. [Read more…]

Record crowds: Secret City Festival was ‘tremendous success’

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Secret City Festival Concert 2015

A concert crowd at the 2015 Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Robert Welton)

 

The 2015 Oak Ridge Secret City Festival drew record attendance, despite the heat, organizers said. Concerts by the Marshall Tucker Band and Three Dog Night attracted the highest number of spectators in festival history.

“We were ecstatic with the turnout for both concerts,” says, Marc DeRose, executive director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We knew the bands would be popular but didn’t expect to see quite so many people. It was outstanding!”

Attendances for The Marshall Tucker Band and Three Dog Night were more than 2,200 and more than 3,500, respectively. The previous record was 2,300 for the Rick Springfield concert in 2013.

“After seeing how many tickets were sold at the gate for Friday’s Marshall Tucker concert, we decided to move the concert fences back to accommodate the expected additional 1,000-plus spectators for Three Dog Night,” DeRose said. [Read more…]

Atomic Heritage meets with Japanese mayors to discuss Manhattan Project park

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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…]

Atomic Heritage to discuss Manhattan Project interpretation with Japanese mayors

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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…]

DOE offers expanded public bus tours of federal sites in Oak Ridge

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DOE Public Bus Tour

Public bus tours of the U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge are now offered nine months of the year. (File photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s public bus tour of federal sites in Oak Ridge is now offered to visitors nine months out of the year, versus only summer months as in the past.

This popular tour of the 33,000-acre DOE Oak Ridge Reservation offers visitors a first-hand look at all of the DOE’s Oak Ridge facilities and provides historical commentary on the transformation of the Oak Ridge Reservation during the past 70-plus years.

The reservation-wide tour is a popular attraction for tourists visiting the area.  Since its inception in 1996, the DOE public tour program has attracted approximately 35,000 visitors from all 50 states. The three-hour DOE tour allows visitors to see the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation and learn about its rich history and how Oak Ridge became a secret city of 75,000 people with a mission to end World War II. [Read more…]

Battle of Normandy World War II reenactment at Secret City Festival this year

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Flak 88 Weapon Firing

The only live firing Flak 88 (German anti-aircraft weapon) in the United States is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

The time is June 1944. After more than four years of German occupation, the Allies have launched the invasion of “fortress Europe” as part of history’s largest combined amphibious and aerial assault. The tide of the war has started to change, but in these early days of combat nothing is certain.

Step back in time and experience the sights and sounds of frontline combat on the western front during World War II and learn about the men and women who helped ensure the Allied victory that shaped the world we live in today. See the uniforms, equipment and vehicles that were part of the world’s largest conflict in action. Come and experience one of the largest groupings of authentic World War II vehicles and equipment in the south! Tour period military encampments, inspect authentic period vehicles and weaponry, and learn more about what the life of a soldier was like during the war.

You can see all this and more during the 2015 Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge on June 13. The festival is at Alvin K. Bissell Park and the Oak Ridge Civic Center. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge vet receives Bronze Star 70 years after World War II

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Melvin Kallio Bronze Star Ceremony

Melvin Kallio, right, received a Bronze Star on Monday, 70 years after he fought in Colmar Pocket in France during World War II, south of the Battle of the Bulge. Pictured with Kallio from left are WVLT-TV Anchor Alan Williams, U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, and the Rev. Craig Kallio, one of Melvin’s two sons.

 

Seventy years after he fought in France during World War II, an Oak Ridge veteran has been awarded the Bronze Star.

Melvin E. Kallio, 92, fought in Colmar Pocket. He was a machine gunner in the 12th Armored Division, and he and other soldiers had been ready to fight at the Battle of the Bulge.

But they wound up fighting against what they initially heard were draftees, part of a German “breakthrough” south of the Battle of the Bulge. The enemy turned out to be tougher and more fierce than draftees. [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…]