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Case Digest Fall
2003 Tennessee: Transfer of Ownership
of the K-25 Nuclear Facility, Oak Ridge
CLOSED CASE
Tennessee:
Transfer of Ownership of the K-25 Nuclear Facility, Oak Ridge
Agency: U.S. Department
of Energy
During
World War II, scientists in the U.S. produced enriched uranium for
an atomic weapon at a facility known as K-25 in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Completed in 1945, the 43-acre structure employed 12,000
workers, cost $500 million, and was the worlds largest building.
This significant historic property is one of eight facilities in World
War IIs Manhattan Project atomic bomb program.
By 1985, K-25
was no longer used to produce uranium and the U.S. Department of
Energy closed the facility two years later. Because K-25 costs millions
of dollars to maintain, the agency plans to demolish the building
and turn the land and some of the equipment over to a public-private
research partnership.
In the meantime,
an agreement has been reached on the management and interpretation
of the Manhattan Project legacy for future generations.
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In the early 1940s, President Roosevelt authorized scientists to build
a nuclear bomb based on intelligence that Germany was actively researching
a similar weapon. The scientists produced enriched uranium for an atomic
weapon at a facility known as K-25 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The K-25 facility, Oak Ridge, TN (photo courtesy of
Sheila G. Thornton,U.S. Dept. of Energy)
The gaseous diffusion process building is one of eight facilities in
the Manhattan Project, named after the U.S. Department of
Energy (DoE) Manhattan Engineer District, which operated the atomic bomb
program during World War II. When it was completed in 1945, the 43-acre
structure employed 12,000 workers, cost $500 million, and stood as the
worlds largest buildingeven larger than the Pentagon.
By1985, K-25 was no longer used to produce uranium, and DoE closed the
facility two years later. In 1999, DoE designated the eight historic nuclear
facilities, including K-25, as signature facilities that represent
the Manhattan Project. Other signature facilities include those in Los
Alamos and Alamo-gordo, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington.
The building, which costs millions of dollars to maintain annually, cannot
be restored or preserved economically because of its massive size, radiological
contamination, and deteriorating physical condition.
DoE plans to demolish the building and turn the land and some of the
equipment over to the City of Oak Ridges East Tennessee Technology
Park, a public-private research partnership. Because the facility presents
health, safety, and security issues, much of the historic equipment in
the building will be dismantled to remove hazardous chemical and radiological
contamination.
Over the past several years, ACHP members visited K-25 and the ACHP convened
a panel of experts under an interagency agreement with DoE. The panel
evaluated how to effectively manage the signature facilities, and offered
advice on interpreting the Manhattan Project legacy for future generations.
Former ACHP chairman Cathryn Slater submitted the panels findings
to Secretary of Energy Spenser Abraham, who said he appreciated the
realistic perspective the panel members brought to the evaluation
of the Manhattan Project facilities.
In July 2003, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed by DoE, the ACHP,
and the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) for the reuse
of K-25 by the East Tennessee Technology Park. Groups that assisted in
developing the agreement include the City of Oak Ridge, the Oak Ridge
Heritage and Preservation Association, the Oak Ridge Reservation Local
Oversight Committee, and the Oak Ridge Site-Specific Advisory Board.
Representing more than five years of consultation, the agreement ensures
that the historic values and components associated with K-25 will be considered
during the buildings clean-up and transfer.
The agreement calls for the aid of a professional consulting firm to
present the significance of the facility through science and history education
initiatives, and it includes the potential for heritage tourism opportunities.
The firm will also provide ideas to interpret the Roosevelt Cell,
a gaseous diffusion cell illustrating the uranium enrichment process that
was prepared for a visit by President Roosevelt, who died before he could
make the trip.
The ACHP and the SHPO will assist DoE in evaluating preservation proposals
and interpreting the K-25 facility.
Staff contact: Tom
McCulloch
Posted
October 30, 2003
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