On September 17, 1943, the US government launched a nuclear project, codenamed Project Manhattan. Preparations for its implementation began a year earlier. In this article we will tell you about one secret place.
This was not the first American project of this kind. Before that there was the "Uranium Project", which existed until 1939. For the Manhattan Project, a group of scientists was created, including the Danish Niels Bohr. He was taken out of the Nazi-occupied Denmark. More than 24 thousand hectares of land were purchased for the project in Tennessee. The newly formed town of Oak Ridge was fenced in and equipped with outposts. More than 10,000 workers with families lived and worked in the city. Most of the ordinary workers did not know about the ultimate goal of their work until the bombing of Japan occurred in 1945.
In the background is the K-25 uranium enrichment plant. For several years, it was considered the largest building in the world.
Checkpoint.
A lie detector test is an obligatory part of the work of the security service.
A billboard in Oak Ridge recommending everything you see, do, and hear - leave here if you leave.
Promotional video:
Photo from the Y-12 factory in the calutron control room. Uranium was fissioned here, but the women who worked there had no idea what they were doing.
Maintenance workers at the K-25 plant.
Calutron track. Light plates are made of silver.
Before you is the father of the atomic bomb - Robert Oppenheimer.
Temporary barracks are the main residence of the project workers. In three years (1942-45) the population of Oak Ridge will grow from three to 75 thousand.
Young local entrepreneur.
Workers of one of the local factories. In the background is another shield with the propaganda of "silence".
A military-themed billboard in January 1944. The psychological preparation of the reaction to a future bombing is obvious.
The main block control panel at the K-25 plant.
A welder works in the same factory.
The kids club room is the only real entertainment place for children.
Teens are testing a flight simulator.
General plan of the K-25 plant, with an area of almost 18 hectares. Here uranium was produced for the first nuclear weapon.
Joy in Jackson Square on August 6, 1945. This is the day of the bombing of Japan.
X-10 is the world's first continuous-flow graphite reactor.
In April 1959, residents of the city voted to remove military control over Oak Ridge. The fences were removed, and the city had local electoral bodies.
View of the K-25 in 1960.
All of these images were taken by Ed Westcott (pictured), who was the first photographer to receive permission to shoot. He still lives in Oak Ridge and recently celebrated his 90th birthday.