Day 153: Secret City

The town of Oak Ridge, Tenn., just west of Knoxville, didn't exist until 1942, and it didn't appear on maps until the end of World War II. It was a secret city, created by the government as part of its Manhattan Project: the development of atomic weaponry. The splitting of atoms to release large amounts of energy--fission--was a new technology, and scientists theorized that a chain-reaction of large enough proportions could be utilized as a bomb. But in 1942, it was all still a theory. Just three years earlier, Albert Einstein sent a letter to FDR recommending that the government explore the potential (and curtail the threat) of the use of uranium as a bomb agent.

Just a few of the very top officials in FDR's administration began a search for a location to produce the required nuclear material, as well as a place to make it into a bomb. They chose an isolated area in far eastern Tennessee, close to rail and river resources, yet far from the coast (and easy attack), for the uranium processing plant. Their facility plan included a town to support 1,500 people (employees and families) and the necessary accompaniments of a town: groceries, gas stations, post office, hair salons, bowling alleys, movie theaters, etc.  But as the Project grew, so did the town, swelling to more than 75,000 residents. In fact, at the height of production, Oak Ridge was the fifth-largest town in Tennessee. Many of its residents lived in cheaply-produced pre-fab houses, known as flat-tops, that were outfitted with furniture and appliances.

Project employees were well-cared for, but there were tight restrictions on their lives: no knowledge of what they were really working on or producing, no conversation with others (even other employees) about what their jobs entailed, severe security and scrutiny of items brought into and out of work. A huge fence encircled the facilities and town, The Project was such a great secret that Truman first learned of it two weeks following FDR's death in April 1945. By that point, the theory had proven correct, and bomb production was nearly complete.

The culmination of the Manhattan Project was the dropping of  "Little Boy" onto Hiroshima, Japan, on August  6, 1945. Its cousin, the plutonium-fueled "Fat Boy," was made in Washington and dropped onto Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. That second bomb is what brought about the end of World War II, as Japan realized the futility of fighting against such a shattering weapon.

It was quite strange to be in a place in which one of the world's most powerful weapons was born. The American Museum of Science and Energy, in the town of Oak Ridge, does a fantastic job of relating the production events, both of the technology and the town itself. It also makes the point that more than 3,000 people were unwillingly relocated from the area in order to free up the necessary land--59,000 acres--for governmental use. The museum recently obtained one of the original "flat-top" houses, donated by a patron. We toured its stark interior, which wasn't much different from what it looked like in 1945...two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room/kitchen, all packed into just 576 square feet.

The museum has lots of hands-on displays about types of energy, some of them very funny. The kids blew off some of their pent-up energy from the five-hour drive to reach Knoxville, Tenn.  And although our time in Oak Ridge this afternoon was brief, we definitely came away with a sense that the lab facilities, now called the Oak Ridge National Lab, are still in full swing: security at gates leading to the research complexes is very tight, as it should be since ORNL is the repository for the nation's nuclear bomb material. It's a strange little world in the heart of the Tennessee mountains.

Photos:
(1) There were many women employed on the Manhattan Project, in part because they followed directions more precisely than their male counterparts!
(5) A "Flat-top" house, such as was installed for many employees in Oak Ridge.
(6) Kelsey demonstrating the transfer of neutrons from her hair to the Vandegraf generator.