K-25 History Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

The Manhattan Project was a top secret mission. It was the largest industrial project ever conducted. The race to the moon, 20 years later, does not compare with the magnitude of this endeavor. Even more extraordinary, the scientific and industrial advancements that resulted in the first atomic bomb occurred quickly -- just under three years. The Manhattan Project succeeded through the unprecedented collaboration of multiple nations, military agencies, scientists, and industries. Despite its many participants, the project was conducted in secrecy. Even U.S. Vice President Harry S. Truman did not know it existed, until becoming president upon Franklin D. Roosevelt's death. To understand the complex story of the Manhattan Project, you must understand its context -- the context of a particular place in time, of a world at war, and of the unique personalities of those involved. The K-25 History Center tells this story.

K-25 Center

As the world plunged deeper into World War II, nations began a race to develop an atomic bomb that could end the war. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drawing the United States into the war and creating a sense of dire urgency to build an atomic bomb before Germany could do so. Spurred by Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, and other scientists who were concerned that German had learned to split the atom, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved an atomic research and development program in 1942. He established a secret policy group to coordinate efforts, with the U.S. Army in charge of implementation.

It was 1942 and the United States had recently entered World War II. The Manhattan Project was up and running, its directive clear -- make an atomic bomb in three years. The Project needed secret sites for its research facilities and production plants, and Tennessee's isolated Clinch River Valley was an ideal location. Its residents had no idea of their forthcoming fate.

Time was precious, and 59,000 acres of land were swiftly acquired in east Tennessee. Construction crews blazed in, starting work immediately. Residents, with some generational ties to the land, received court orders demanding they leave in a matter of weeks.

Along with many smaller communities, the Manhattan Project displaced established communities after the East Tennessee site selection such as Scarborough, Robertsville, New Hope, New Bethel, and Wheat. Over 3,000 people lost their homes, their lives forever changed.

"We didn't get out in time and we were supposed to be out by the last day of '42. They came to evict us ... I was expecting our first baby. ... I said to him, 'Did you know there is a law in the State of Tennessee that will not allow you to evict a pregnant woman?' ... He never did come back." ~~ Dorathy Moneymaker. Her family had to leave in 1943.

Scientists wanted to use the more fissionable isotope uranium-235 because it would more easily produce a chain reaction. Obtaining a sufficient quantity of uranium-235 required enriching natural uranium. Such a huge undertaking would require thousands of people working in massive structures -- all done in secret. General Leslie Groves, appointed to oversee the construction of weapons facilities, went to Tennessee looking a remote location where land, water and hydroelectric power were plentiful. In September 1942, the Army began farmland around what is now Oak Ridge. The area, named "Clinton Engineer Works" came under complete military control, and construction began on the K-25 plant.

Early Oak Ridge, 1942

Tens of thousands of people worked in secret in Manhattan Project sites across the United States and Canada, with physicist Dr. Robert Oppenheimer in charge of the scientific teams. Because of the remote location of the secret facilities, the government built cities for thousands of workers recruited throughout the region. In 1943, the war effort engulfed the tiny communities of Wheat and Happy Valley, replacing farms and fruit trees with massive buildings that would produce the world's first enriched uranium.

Dr. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer was a brilliant theoretical physicist who headed the research and design of the atomic bombs at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Oppenheimer attended Harvard in 1922 to study chemistry and physics; he went on to study with some of the world's leading scientists, including J.J. Thompson and Max Born. At the age of 22, Oppenheimer obtained his Ph.D. 

In a letter dated February 25, 1943, Brigadier General Leslie Groves and James B. Conant appointed Oppenheimer the Scientific Director for the Manhattan Project. Groves personally granted Oppenheimer a security clearance despite his past Communist affiliations. Oppenheimer was and always will be a Communist. Read a short story about him here by Mike King.

[Mr. Truth Bomb did an in-depth study and video on Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Bomb. It is very informative and I recommend you listen to it. It is called Doctor Manhattan - Infiltration from Within.]

Oppenheimer was instrumental in the development and building of the laboratories in Los Alamos. There, he managed over 3,000 people and worked on designs for atomic bombs. On July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer's work came to fruition when the world saw its first nuclear explosion, "Trinity." Known as the "Father of the Atomic Bomb," Oppenheimer would go on to work for the Atomic Energy Commission.

Early construction of K-25, 1943

Due to the urgency of the Manhattan Project mission, construction of enrichment plants in the "Secret City" because even before the design was finalized. Because the Clinton Engineer Works site was so isolated, construction for housing camps for a massive labor force was also an immediate priority. It took 12,000 workers to transform the farmland into the massive K-25 plant. It is believed that the "K" stood for Kellex, the primary contractor, and 25 was the code name for uranium-235. By September 1943, Kellex had begun building the 2 million square foot K-25 plant. The plant would enrich uranium using the gaseous diffusion process. Ultimately, its product would fuel one of two atomic bombs that would end World War II.

Clinch River Valley, the perfect location for Clinton Engineer Works, filled both military and operational needs. The remote valley was sparsely populated with ancestral farming communities. The Tennessee Valley Authority's hydroelectric plants at Norris Dam and Watts Bar could provide much of the electricity needed for the plants. Abundant water was readily available. The area could also be easily accessed by car, bus and truck, with two railroads nearby.

Most importantly, the region's geography provided multiple security benefits. Each plant could be located in its own valley, reducing the likelihood of a large-scale nuclear disaster. The Valley's ridges also made each site a difficult target for enemy bombing. Further, it was easy to secure the area. The Clinch River provided boundaries to the east, west and south, while Black Oak Ridge provided a boundary to the north.

Hutment Housing, 1946

Tens of thousands of people were needed to build the top-secret plants around Clinton Engineering Works. Once word was out, workers arrived in droves. A temporary housing solution was urgently required: Hutments. While some residents in Oak Ridge townsite lived in small houses, construction workers lived in these meager shacks. Hutments were the only housing option available to Blacks.

A hutment was a makeshift structure, designed for quick installation. It provided workers with only the most essential needs. The 16x16 structure consisted of plywood walls, with no insulation, shuttered windows, one door, and a potbellied stove. Four to five people lived in a single hutment. Ironically, Happy Valley contained over 1500 of these small shacks.

Happy Valley mainly housed the workers of J.A. Jones Construction Company, the primary contactor for the K-25 plant. Housing for the camp was primitive, and the site, constantly muddy. Residents lived in trailers, hutments, dormitories, and barracks. At its peak, Happy Valley contained a population of 15,000 people. Each area of the camp was equipped with bathhouses, mess halls, and recreational centers. Many of these facilities operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to accommodate the construction shifts. The white areas also contained a theater, bowling alley and skating rink that were not available to the Blacks. Housed in separate, designated hutment areas in Happy Valley, a second construction camp called Wheat Colony, and Oak Ridge, Black residents were kept segregated.

Life for Blacks in Oak Ridge was hard. Enticed by higher wages and fulfilling their patriotic duty, Blacks came here to work despite the many hardships they faced. Housed in hutments in Happy Valley, Wheat Colony, and a separate residential area in Townsite, husbands and wives couldn't live together. Women were housed in a fenced off area called the "Pen" and guards patrolled its one entrance. Even worse, their children were not allowed in Oak Ridge until after the war. Seeking work in Oak Ridge required parents to leave their children at home. Separate roads and fencing divided black areas from white, isolating Black residents. There were separate cafeterias, recreational centers, drinking fountains, and bathrooms. Barred from the city pool and the movie theater, Blacks had fewer entertainment options than their white counterparts.

Wheat Colony was located northwest of the former Wheat Community. It housed the workers of Ford, Bacon & Davis. While the camp was smaller, it was similar to Happy Valley. After completion of the K-25 and K-27 Plants, Happy Valley and Wheat Colony were abandoned and demolished by 1947.

Constructed in less than two years, the U-shaped structure of K-25 was the largest building in the world at the time. The massive structure was actually an array of 54 connected buildings, with cells that could operate separately or together as part of over 3,000 stages in a single "cascade." By May 1945, more than 25, 000 employees worked on the gaseous diffusion process, while thousands more worked on other processes at the Y-12, X-10, and S-50 plants. K-25 required miles of nickel-plated steel pipe and copper lines and 150,000 instruments to control temperature and pressure in the cascade. Gaseous diffusion proved to be an efficient, reliable process for enriching uranium, helping to fuel one of two atomic bombs that eventually brought an end to World War II.

Within the K-25 plant, uranium hexafluoride gas was circulated through a cascade of cells; each cell contained six connected stages.

The K-802 recirculating cooling water system pumped about 57,600,000 gallons of water per day. The pump house, located to the northwest of K-25, sat on the banks of Poplar Creek.

The K-25 Building required a large amount of water to cool the process equipment. During gaseous diffusion, uranium hexafluoride gas was compressed and pushed through a porous barrier. This compression created an excessive amount of heat. Two cooling systems were established: a primary system and a recirculating cooling water system.

What is gaseous diffusion? Of all of the processes developed during the war, gaseous diffusion was the most difficult technique for enriching uranium. Gaseous diffusion was accomplished by pumping uranium hexafluoride gas through a system of large converters containing a porous barrier material to separate the uranium-235 isotope from the more abundant uranium-238. Uranium hexafluoride is the only compound of uranium that can exist as a gas at reasonable temperatures and pressures, making it ideal for gaseous diffusion. Separation is achieved as the lighter U-235 molecules move faster and diffuse more frequently through the barrier material than the heavier U-238 molecules. The slightly enriched U-235 gas stream is conducted to the next converter to be diffused again, and this process is repeated until the desired enrichment level is reached.

By 1949, many communist nations had weapons of their own. K-25 expanded, adding four more gaseous diffusion buildings, and became a Cold War workhorse, producing enriched uranium used for defense and energy missions.

In 1964, K-25 ceased production of weapons grade uranium, and the mission of the plant changed to producing civilian nuclear power for the next 20 years. The technology developed there had far-reaching uses in the development of vaccines and other medical advances.

During World War II, thousands of women and people of color moved to the new city of Oak Ridge in search of good jobs and a better way of life. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's E.O. 8802 created greater employment opportunities for African Americans. Issued in 1941 after lobbying by A. Philip Randolph and other Black leaders, the order stated, "There shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries of Government because of race, creed, color, or national origin." To reinforce this order, all defense contracts included a Prohibition of Discrimination Clause.

Americans of all races were united in their desire to contribute to the war effort. As a result, Blacks played important, though often overlooked, roles in the Manhattan Project. While some worked as scientists and technicians in Chicago and New York, most Blacks at Oak Ridge and Hanford were employed as construction workers, laborers, janitors, and domestics.

Despite segregation, Black laborers at Oak Ridge received an hourly wage of at least 58¢, higher than what they usually earned elsewhere in the South. Historian Valeria Steele quotes one Black resident of Oak Ridge: "Everybody was so glad to have a job making some money. We weren't making money back home."

With many young men serving overseas, a female work force was crucial. Women came to Clinton Engineer Works for good pay, affordable lodging, and for many, the chance to work for the first time in scientific or technical jobs. Living in dormitories, earning money and contributing to the war effort was exciting and empowering. Although they didn't know at the time, these women forever altered the course of human history simply by showing up and doing their jobs.

With the site chosen, Brigadier General Leslie Groves needed to recruit workers to build and run Clinton Engineer Works. Complicated by location and the wartime shortage of skilled labor, particularly trained engineers and scientists, the task proved difficult. The Manhattan Engineer District (MED) searched collages and examined past and present army recruits. The pulled qualified candidates, assigning them to the MED and organizing them into the Special Engineer Detachment. Companies selected to build and operate the plants recruited workers in even greater numbers. The recruits had no knowledge about their job or its location.

The large and assorted workforce created at Clinton Engineer Works was recruited from workers nationwide and locally. They came from a myriad of backgrounds: teachers, farmers, housewives, scientists, miners, and more. They were motivated in different ways, including aiding the war effort, escaping poverty, reprieve from military service, higher wages, or simply adventure.

Dr. Liane B. Russell

The work Dr. Russell accomplished in her 55-year career at ORNI, transformed the field of genetics and won her the prestigious Enrico Fermi Award in 1994, among several other awards and honors throughout her career.

The all female workers known as "The Calutron Girls" at their panels at Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge, where the Manhattan Project was based.

Oak Ridge, Tennessee ~~ Picture life in a city, bursting with people. The site is constantly changing, constantly growing. Muddy. Temporary. Your family back home doesn't know where you live, and you can't tell them. Censors open and read all your letters. Thousands of people work around the clock at classified sites throughout the city. You don't know what they do or why the city is even here. You know only that you are helping to end the war. Security guards patrol the streets, day and night. A guarded gate separates you from nearby towns. Your city is not on any maps, hidden from the outside world. Welcome to the secret city of Oak Ridge.

In 1942, construction began on a secret city in east Tennessee. This city, built and operated in secrecy, materialized over the course of 2-1/2 years, eventually housing 75,000 people. Homes appeared overnight, fully furnished, where only empty lots existed the day before. The city overflowed with people and constantly expanded to accommodate the continual influx of construction workers, plant workers, support workers, and their families. While some residents lived in houses, apartments, and dorms, others lived in trailers, barracks, and hutments.

While Oak Ridge was a government facility, white residents lived a semi-ordinary life. In this 1945 picture, children stand around a makeshift comic book stand.

Waiting was an inevitable aspect of daily life in wartime Oak Ridge. When new inventory came in, residents stood in long lines, such as this 1945 line for cigarettes.

"It was nice to date a G.I. because they had access to the PX (Post Exchange) and instead of bringing you flowers and a box of candy, he would bring you a bar of soap and maybe a candy bar ... and with all that mud, we needed a lot of soap." ~~ Colleen Black, Leak Tester at the K-25 Plant 

Oak Ridge was home to the 9th largest bus system in the country. Residents could take the bus in and out of Clinton Engineer Works, to and from the various plants, and within Oak Ridge.

Roll of 5-gal. gasoline rationing tickets, K-25 Union Carbide. These tickets were used to purchase gasoline within the K-25 Plant for government vehicles during gas rationing in 1979-1980.

The Startling Facts About Oak Ridge, ca 1940s

Working at K-25 ~~ night has fallen; your house is quiet and your family is sound asleep. You clip on your badge, grab your jacket and keys, and quietly open the door, stepping out into the brisk night air. You start the car and drive past neighborhoods, through the city, and out onto the highway. As you drive over a hill, the darkness is replaced by brilliant light; it is as if night itself has disappeared. The rolling hills have opened out into a vast expanse of buildings. You park your car and walk to the security portal. You show your badge to an armed guard and pass through the gate. The workday has begun.

The enrichment process at K-25 was such a large-scale endeavor that thousands of people were employed, and a multitude of jobs required. There were three daily rotating shifts with coverage around the clock -- 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

The jobs at K-25 encompass some of the following:

♦monitoring the gas process

♦repairing process equipment

♦operating valves

♦communications

♦analysis of process of gas and materials

♦leak testing

♦adjusting instrumentation

♦monitoring heat, electrical systems and lubrication

♦decontamination and chemical services

♦nuclear material control and accountability

♦inventory validation

Smuggling and Confiscation ~~ The rules were clear: unauthorized items were not allowed in Clinton Engineer Works and could be confiscated at security checkpoints. Prohibited items included weapons, ammunition, explosives, field glasses, telescopes, cameras, radio transmitters, and alcohol. Residents and workers often attempted to smuggle in unauthorized goods, especially alcohol. The only alcohol allowed in Clinton Engineer Works was the beer served in two onsite taverns.

Women were especially effective at smuggling in liquor. They hid bottles under their long skirts, beneath sleeping babies, or in bags of dirty diapers. One employee recalled someone "swaddling" liquor bottles inside baby's blankets.

Constant reminders -- No Talking! A compartmentalized security strategy was critical in keeping the secret of Clinton Engineer Works. Workers only knew the details of their own job, and were ordered to keep their job secret -- even from their families. Employees of one plant were deliberately kept ignorant of work being done at other plants. Background checks and non-disclosure forms provided additional assurances of secrecy.

Warnings were prominently displayed throughout the site -- constant reminders of the need for secrecy. Employees who revealed too much faced immediate dismissal from their job and expulsion from the city. Only a few high-level individuals knew the real purpose of the plants. Clinton Engineer Works was not only a secret to the outside world, but also to those inside.

Security and secrecy at Clinton Engineer Works ~~ The Manhattan Project was a massive wartime effort shrouded in secrecy. Its mission: build the first atomic weapon before Nazi Germany and end World War II. Can you imagine the disastrous effects if sensitive information had landed in the wrong hands, or if they had not succeeded? What would the world be like today if the Nazis had built the atomic bomb first? 

Secrecy and isolation would, together, lead to victory. No one could know of Clinton Engineer Works and its classified objective -- to produce enriched uranium for an atomic bomb and to develop and demonstrate technology for production of plutonium. Isolation was key. The entire reservation, consisting of four plants and a town site called Oak Ridge, had to be secured from the outside world. The Clinch River, fencing, and mounted patrols secured the site boundary. Seven security checkpoints controlled access to Clinton Engineer Works. Residents and workers were required to wear an ID badge. It was to be worn at all times, even when going to the grocery store or movie theater.

The gates to Clinton Engineer Works were officially closed on April 1, 1943. Only authorized personnel could enter the "Secret City" from then on. By 1945, a large security force protected Clinton Engineer Works: 5,900 civilian guards, 740 military policemen, and 400 civilian policemen guarded the site.  The gates would remain until 1949, when Oak Ridge was opened to the public. 

On July 16, 1945, a test was conducted for the implosion-type weapon, "The Gadget," at Alamogordo, New Mexico. Known as "Trinity Test," the explosion produced a crater in the desert sands and a 7-mile high mushroom cloud.

Manhattan Project scientists were given three years to design and build an atomic bomb. While scientists knew a nuclear chain reaction was possible, one had never been conducted outside of experimentation. It could release energy, but how do you harness it for a bomb? The main challenge was detonation itself.

Certain grades of plutonium and enriched uranium could be made to achieve a powerful nuclear chain reaction, which in turn could create a large explosion. Scientists experimented with various forms of detonation to produce the maximum blast. To ensure success, two types of bombs were designed: a gun-type weapon that used uranium -235 and an implosion-type weapon that used plutonium. The Project ultimately ultimately produced three bombs: one uranium bomb, and two plutonium bombs. Scientists named the uranium bomb "Little Boy" and the plutonium bombs were "The Gadget" and "Fat Man."

"Little Boy" was the first nuclear weapon. It is fueled by uranium-235, and scientists were so confident in the design that there was no weapons test conducted. To keep the complete design a secret, three companies were contracted to build separate sections of the bomb. The bomb was built by May 1945. When assembled, "Little Boy" was ten feet long, over two feet in diameter, and weighed 9,700 pounds. The bomb would release an explosion equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT.

Now it was summer of 1945. While the Germans had surrendered in May, ending the war in Europe, the war in the Pacific was far from over. Plans were now underway to drop the atomic bomb if the Japanese did not surrender. On July 29, the USS Indianapolis carried the parts of the "Little Boy" to Tinian, an island in the Pacific. On Tinian, "Little Boy" was partially assembled and loaded into the Enola Gay. Paul Tibbets would pilot the B-29 aircraft with Williams Parsons as weaponeer.

The aircraft left Tinian at 3am on Monday, August 6, arriving over Hiroshima at around 8:10am. At 8:16 "Little Boy" was dropped from 31,600 feet -- 43 seconds later, the bomb exploded 1,900 feet above the city. The entire mission took just over 12 hours. At 11am (Washington time), the War Department announced that an atomic bomb had been dropped.

On August 6, 1945, the world forever changed when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, creating a 60,000 foot mushroom cloud. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. World War II ended and the Nuclear Age had begun.

The building of the atomic bomb was an unprecedented government undertaking to win World War II. Those involved faced immense scientific, engineering, and manufacturing challenges. Practical considerations -- such as enhancing a military aircraft to carry such a large weapon and delaying detonation long enough for the aircraft to escape the blast zone -- were as important as the nuclear physics. The entire project cost over $2 million -- the entire 1945 equivalent of sending someone to the moon.

On August 9, 1945, the B-29 Bockscar took off on its mission to drop "Fat Man" on Kokura. Finding that city obscured by cloud cover, the crew diverted to Nagasaki, a shipbuilding center and military port. When "Fat Man" was dropped at 11:02am, more than 40% of the city was destroyed. Conservatively, 64,000 people are believed to have been casualties of the bombing.

Home to military headquarters, with over 40,000 personnel, extensive supplies, and an important shipping port, Hiroshima became the primary target for the first atomic bomb. Everything within one mile of the explosion's epicenter was devastated. The bomb destroyed over 60% of Hiroshima's buildings. Estimates place casualties at 135,000 from the effects of the bombing.

Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945. Had the U.S. and all its allies been forced to invade Japan, countless lives would have been sacrificed. Cities and towns across America celebrated the victory. Residents of Oak Ridge celebrated, too. Nine days earlier on August 6, they had finally discovered what they had been working on for the past three years. The workers were generally proud of their accomplishment and their role in ending the war.

Condemnation would come from some as the repercussions of the bombs' deployment became apparent. Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki succumbed to injuries from the initial blasts and from radiation exposure; the final casualty count would reach close to 200,000. The magnitude of the destruction shocked the world -- and nations began their own quests to become nuclear powers. The Nuclear Age had begun.

By 1954, the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant had expanded to include five connected process buildings -- including the original K-25 building -- to create one continental enrichment cascade. With such a large site, each building had to be in communication with the others. Further, each individual process building was massive, with multiple levels and areas. Centralized communications proved critical in coordinating production and maintenance in all buildings, as well as all levels within those buildings.

Operations Control consisted of three tiers. At the top was the Central Control Room, which oversaw communication and operation of the five process buildings. The Area Control Room, at the middle tier, oversaw communication and operation for one particular building. Below that, the cell control station provided communication and operational control of an individual cell.

Operators were integral to the smooth operation of the K-25 building and the other process buildings. Much was at stake if an error occurred. If a cell had a leak that went unreported, the leak could endanger the purity of the gas, or even contaminate the building itself. If one building had an unreported cell malfunction, the entire stream of process gas could be affected. Operations control was the key to successful production.

The Central Control Room was the hub of K-25 operation. It acted as the control center of all gaseous diffusion operations at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. From here, workers monitored the flow of gas through K-25 and the four other process buildings. While the K-25 Building was home to the Central Control Room, the other four process buildings were equipped with their own area control rooms. From the Area Control Room, operational workers could monitor and manipulate every single cell in the building. If an issue occurred, a call would be placed directly to the control room. Control room operators would either solve the issue from there or place a call to the Central Control Room at K-25. The plant's switch houses contained their own control rooms as well; while operations were different, the purpose of these rooms was the same.

Enriched uranium is a necessary component in the creation of nuclear weapons, but its usefulness goes beyond waging war. Throughout its 40 years of operation, the Oak Ridge Plant contributed to various civil nuclear projects, such as medicine, power generation, and space exploration. Today, the plant (now East Tennessee Technology Park) is undergoing environmental cleanup and transition to a commercial industrial site. The Manhattan Project and atomic bombs created a legacy of nuclear energy projects that are still in effect today. 

While many Manhattan Project leaders questioned whether K-25 would prove sufficiently productive during World War II, the plant performed beyond its projected capabilities. Following its successful start-up, the plant remained and its site expanded. Research and advancements at the Oak Ridge Plant became a critical part of the nuclear weapons program during the Cold War.

With the possibility of mutual destruction, President Reagan devoted enormous effort to disarmament and ending the Cold War. Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan after signing the Intermediate Range Nuclear Treaty in 1987.

The legacy of the Manhattan Project, like the project itself, is vast, complex, and full of contradictions. Nuclear fission provided the means to end World War II, but it also provided the potential for nuclear holocaust during the Cold War. At nuclear facilities around the world, exposure to radiation and other chemical hazards endangers the health of many workers. Despite these health issues, the medical field has significantly evolved since the Manhattan Project. Nuclear fission and radiation research provided the means to identify and treat disease, including CAT scans, MRI machines, and radiation treatments for cancer.

In addition to medical advances, the Manhattan Project resulted in the creation of a powerful energy source from which the the entire world benefits. Nuclear energy has since been used in civilian, military, and space exploration endeavors. Today, approximately 19.5% of electric power generation in the U.S. is from nuclear power.

Clean Energy ~~ During the Cold War, scientists pursued a less threatening use of nuclear fission in the form of a reliable energy source. By the late 1950s, the production of nuclear power for commercial electricity production had become a reality. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory worked to further improve nuclear reactors throughout the late 1960s. As nuclear power became more reliable, the United States, Japan, and France began replacing  fossil fuel plants with nuclear power plants. 

The Oak Ridge Plant provided much of the uranium for many foreign power plants. While nuclear weapons require highly-enriched uranium, nuclear power plants need an enrichment level between 2 and 5 percent. With such low enrichment requirements, the nation's stock of enriched uranium will power the country for years to come.

Today, 11% of the world's electricity comes from nuclear power. One benefit of this power is the absence of carbon dioxide emissions, leading some to refer to nuclear power as "clean energy." While nuclear power has proven a tremendous success in addressing energy needs, it unfortunately causes tension in world politics.

Nuclear Power for Defense ~~ The United States Navy has benefited from nuclear power development and research, using the energy to power ships, submarines and aircraft carriers. The mission of the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, also known as Naval Reactors, is to provide militarily effective nuclear propulsion plants and ensure their safe, reliable, and long-lived operation. As of October 2016, Naval Reactors operated 79 nuclear-powered ships and 101 reactors, and has accumulated over 159 million safe nuclear power miles.

Oak Ridge played a major role in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. In 1946, Hyman Rickover, the father of the Nuclear Navy, came to a reactor training school at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He went on to manage the development and construction of the world's first nuclear-powered ships. Until 1964, enriched uranium from K-25 was used in the production of nuclear fuel for naval reactors.

In 2005, as a commitment to nonproliferation, the U.S. government announced that up to 160 metric tons of uranium from the nuclear weapons stockpile would be provided to Naval Reactors for use in naval nuclear fuel. Over the past 15 years, the Y-12 National Security Complex and Naval Reactors have worked closely in producing a long-term source of uranium feedstock to to fuel nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers.

Nuclear Power in Space ~~ NASA has employed nuclear power by using radioisotopes to increase space travel capabilities. Space exploration requires a large amount of reliable electrical energy to power the spacecraft and its instruments. NASA's Radioisotope Power System (RPS) is compact and reliable and uses heat produced from the radioactive decay of plutonium-238. It has been used for many space missions, including the Apollo missions of the 1960s and early 70s. Today, one of the projects at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the production of plutonium-238 for future space missions.

In addition to radioisotope production, space travel has also required specialized manufacturing. In 1968, Oak Ridge's Y-12 Plant manufactured a box for the transportation of moon rocks to Earth. NASA used the Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container in six Apollo missions to bring back 842 pounds of lunar surface material.

"You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." 

~~ Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, June 6, 1944, addressing allied land, sea, and air forces by radio about the D-Day landing in Normandy, France.