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The Making of the Manhattan Project ParkThe Making of the Manhattan Project ParkBy Cynthia C. KellyThe making of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park took more than five times as long asthe making of the atomic bomb itself (1942 to 1945). Fifteen years after the first efforts to preservesome of the Manhattan Project properties at Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 1999, Congress enacted theManhattan Project National Historical Park Act, signed by President Obama on December 19, 2014.The following provides the story of how the park was created and a preview of coming attractions.Mandate for a Clean SweepAfter the end of the Cold War in 1989, Congress directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to clean updecades of contamination at its nuclear production facilities. At Los Alamos, the V Site (where theatomic bombs were assembled), was a cluster of garage-like wooden structures left over from theManhattan Project, far from public view. The main property had high-bay doors to accommodate the“Gadget,” the world’s first atomic device tested at the Trinity Site on July 16, 1945. Along with dozensof other Manhattan Project properties, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) slated the V Sitebuildings for demolition.LANL officials estimated that the costs just to stabilize the buildings would be 3 million. “Preservationwould be a waste of taxpayers’ money 1,” declared LANL’s Richard Berwick. When the State of NewMexico concurred in the demolition, the buildings were doomed.Rescuing the V Site PropertiesThe legacy of the Manhattan Project was in the crosshairs. Were any of the original Manhattan Projectproperties at Los Alamos going to be saved? Working for the Department of Energy, I called theAdvisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) for advice. The Council agreed to add a day to itsSanta Fe meeting that fall to visit the V Site.On November 5, 1998, the Advisory Council members were astonished by the contrast between thesimplicity of V Site properties and the complexity of what took place inside them. The group1Associated Press, June 21, 1997.Federation of American Scientists Public Interest Report Winter 2015– Volume 68 Number 1

The Making of the Manhattan Project Parkconcluded that the V Site would not only qualify as a National Historic Landmark but as a WorldHeritage Site similar to the Acropolis in Athens or the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Somewhatchastened, the Los Alamos National Laboratory agreed to take the cluster of V Site buildings off thedemolition list. However, funds to restore them would have to come from elsewhere.Save America’s TreasuresIn 1998 Congress and First Lady Hillary Clinton decided to commemorate the millennium by awardingSave America’s Treasures grants to preserve historic federal properties in danger of being lost. In acompetitive process run by the National Park Service, the Department of Energy (DOE) was awarded 700,000 to restore the V Site properties.However, there was a catch-22: the grant had to be matched by non-federal funds, but federalemployees cannot solicit funds and DOE has no foundation authorized to do so. Rather than haveDOE forfeit the grant, I decided to leave a 25-year career with the federal government in January 2000to raise the funds and segue to my next “real” job.Restored V Site at Los AlamosFederation of American Scientists Public Interest Report Winter 2015– Volume 68 Number 1

The Making of the Manhattan Project ParkGaining TractionThe fund-raising project quickly evolved into a much bigger effort. To galvanize public and politicalattention, in March 2001 I enlisted the Los Alamos Historical Society to collaborate on a weekend ofevents called “Remembering the Manhattan Project.” The centerpiece was the “Louis Slotin Sonata,” anew play by Paul Mullin about a Manhattan Project scientist who died in a criticality experiment at LosAlamos in early 1946. The play and a heated discussion afterwards was covered by the New YorkTimes and other press, bringing the Manhattan Project to national attention.In February 2002, I founded the Atomic Heritage Foundation (AHF), a nonprofit in Washington, DCdedicated to preserving and interpreting the Manhattan Project. Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, helped open doors to Senators Jeff Bingaman (DNM), and Pete Domenici (R-NM). To increase interest in preserving the Manhattan Project, in April2002 we convened a symposium in Washington, DC that was covered by C-SPAN worldwide.On September 30, 2003, Senators Bingaman, Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Patty Murray (D-WA),introduced legislation to study the potential for including the Manhattan Project in the National ParkSystem. On the same day, Congressman Doc Hastings (R-WA), introduced similar legislation in theHouse. Congress passed the study bill in the fall of 2004 and President George W. Bush signed itdespite the administration’s opposition to any new parks.For more than a decade, the Congressional delegations from New Mexico, Washington andTennessee were a very strong, bipartisan team. Their commitment to the park was critical at everyjuncture over the next decade but especially in the final weeks of the Congress. The last major publiclands omnibus legislation was in 2009; since then very few park bills had been passed. The Senate hada long list of bills that it wanted to attach to the NDAA along with the Manhattan Project NationalHistorical Park. However, efforts to create a small “package” of other bills failed in 2013. Finally, inDecember 2014, the House passed the legislation as part of the “must pass” 2015 National DefenseAuthorization Act.Attaching a large public lands “package” was risky as there was strong opposition in the Senate toexpanding public lands and creating new parks. With several close calls in the days before its passage,this time the strategy succeeded. Congress passed the NDAA with a robust “package” of six newnational park units, nine park expansions and dozens of other public lands provisions. On December19, 2014, the President signed the legislation into law.Federation of American Scientists Public Interest Report Winter 2015– Volume 68 Number 1

The Making of the Manhattan Project ParkThe new Manhattan Project National Historical Park has units at Los Alamos, NM, Oak Ridge, TN, andHanford, WA. During World War II, these “secret cities” were not on any map even though some130,000 people lived in them.The park will be officially established in late 2015 when the Departments of Energy and Interior enterinto an agreement concerning their respective roles, public access and other issues.Preview of the ParkThe new park will focus on three major sites: Los Alamos, NM, where the first atomic bombs weredesigned; Oak Ridge, TN, where enormous facilities produced enriched uranium; and Hanford, WA,where plutonium was produced. There are over 40 properties that are officially designated as part ofthe park with provision for adding others later.Los Alamos, NMThe new park includes 13 properties in the Los Alamos community, many of them originally built bythe Los Alamos Ranch School in the 1920s. The government took over the school’s properties in 1943for the Manhattan Project. The seven former Masters’ cottages became the homes of the top-echelonscientists and military leaders. Because these cottages were the only housing with bathtubs, the streetbecame known as Bathtub Row.The cottage where J. Robert Oppenheimer and his family lived could be the “jewel in the crown” ofthe visitors’ experience. Visitors are also welcome at the Guest House, now the Los Alamos HistoricalSociety Museum, and the Fuller Lodge, a handsome ponderosa pine structure that was a social centerfor the Manhattan Project.Federation of American Scientists Public Interest Report Winter 2015– Volume 68 Number 1

The Making of the Manhattan Project ParkOppenheimer House, Los AlamosMore than a dozen other properties are owned by the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Public accessto these properties could be limited for the first few years to address security issues. The V-Sitebuildings, saved from demolition in 1998 and restored in 2006, are humble garage-like structureswere where the “Gadget” was assembled. The “Gadget” was the initial plutonium-based bomb thatwas tested at the Trinity Site on July 16, 1945.A companion facility to the V Site is the Gun Site used to develop and test the “Little Boy” or uraniumbased bomb. The gun-type design fired a small projectile of uranium into a greater mass to create anexplosion. The Gun Site is undergoing reconstruction but will eventually have a concrete bunker,periscope tower, canons and a firing range.Oak Ridge, TNThe mission of the Clinton Engineer Works was to produce enriched uranium, one the coreingredients of an atomic bomb. Mammoth plants at Y-12 and K-25 used different techniques toproduce enriched uranium. While security is an issue now, visitors will eventually be able to tour theremaining “Calutron” building at Y-12. While the mile-long K-25 building was demolished last year,plans are to recreate a portion of it for visitors.Federation of American Scientists Public Interest Report Winter 2015– Volume 68 Number 1

The Making of the Manhattan Project ParkA third site at Oak Ridge is the X-10 Graphite Reactor, a pilot-scale reactor and prototype for theHanford plutonium production reactors. Visitors will be able to see the former Guest House (laternamed the Alexander Inn) built to accommodate distinguished visitors such as General Leslie Groves,Enrico Fermi, and Ernest O. Lawrence. Recently restored as a residence for seniors, the lobby will haveManhattan Project photographs and other memorabilia.X-10 Site, Oak RidgeHanford, WAThere are two iconic Manhattan Project properties at Hanford. The B Reactor, the world’s first fullscale plutonium production reactor, has been welcoming visitors for several years. There manyinterpretive displays and models that the Atomic Heritage and B Reactor Museum Association havedeveloped. For example, there is an interactive model of the B reactor and the dozens of supportbuildings that once surrounded it. There is also a cutaway model of the reactor core showing thelattice of uranium fuel rods, graphite blocks, control rods and other features.The second property is the T Plant, a mammoth “Queen Mary” of the desert used to chemicallyseparate plutonium from irradiated fuel rods. It was one of the first remotely controlled industrialoperations. Prospects are that the public will be able to visit a portion of the plant over time.Federation of American Scientists Public Interest Report Winter 2015– Volume 68 Number 1