Growing up in Tennessee, I was always quite familiar with Oak Ridge. Recently I have heard it’s not as well known as I always figured it was.

Do you know about it?

It didn’t exist really before WWII. Then, suddenly it did. People working in the plants had no idea what they were doing really. Most just went to work doing small tasks that they were not allowed to talk about.

Yep, been there several times to shoot NRA High Power matches.

I knew about it before that, because history and junk....A-bomb and stuff. You know, how it just sprung up out of nowhere .

ARman

Yes. I was always fascinated by the K25 plant, which was (I think) at one time was the largest building on earth.

The calutrons were wired with pure silver loaned by the US Treasury. Over 14,000 tons of it. It of course, went back when the plant was dismantled.

Yup. Big WWII buff, AEC and Oak Ridge are part of that.

I just listened to a book on cd about the history of nuculear power and the MANY accidents along the way and Oak Ridge was touched on. People doing compartmentalized tasks work on the bomb was commonplace to reduce the number of folks in the loop.

Yes, I’ve heard of it. Also read a book about some of the women who worked there Girls of Atomic City. Book was ok.

Been there several times. Even once worked at the ORNL.

I just asked my wife and some of her co-workers. No clue.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is also out there.

Worked in the Oak Ridge area for one year and visited the labs as well. Interesting community. At the time the city had the highest population of PHDs in the United States.

Yes, and Los Alamos among others.

Although it was much too long ago to be certain, given my early interest in WWII history it was probably one of the very first place names I associated with Tennessee.

I went and taught some Guvvies at ORNL a few years ago.

Yup, I've known about Oak Ridge, TN for quite some while.

Never actually been there but have heard and read a lot about it.

My dad always said the bomb saved his life (so I guess mine too) as he had been in the Pacific for a year and a half. He was preparing with his unit for the invasion that was scheduled for early 1946.
He drank two beers the night the surrender was announced, one of two times in his life.
I think most people that haven't read much on the project would think of Las Alamos as where the bomb was built.
That whole project was amazing in it's size and the speed with which it was accomplished.

Drove thru there a few years ago and visited the museum for the second time. Don't let the name "American Museum of Science and Energy" fool you, there's lots on the Manhattan Project plus displays of nukes.

https://amse.org/

It's outside the gates, no security to go through.

My Mom had some cousins that worked there .

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is also out there.

This is the only reason I know about it. Birthplace of nuclear bomb.

ORNL is the only way one would ever know about Oak Ridge, particularly Y-12 which I believe where the national stockpile of fissile material is stored.

Along with Los Alamos, Livermore, Pentax, and the NV Test Site, Y-12 is one of a small handful of our nations most secure locations and secret goings-on in terms of nuclear research and weapons tech.