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Remembering the Manhattan Project : Perspectives on the Making of The 5654tp.Yun Cheng. (Converted)-2 14/12/05 3:05 PM Page 2 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Manhattan Project Perspectives on the Making of the Atomic Bomb and its Legacy" Composite 5654tp.Yun Cheng. (Converted)-2 14/12/05 3:05 PM Page 1 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Manhattan Project "Perspectives on the Making of the Atomic Bomb and its Legacy" editor Cynthia C. Kelly President, The Atomic Heritage Foundation, USA WWorld Scientific NEW JERSEY · LONDON · SINGAPORE · BEIJING · SHANGHAI · HONG KONG · TAIPEI · CHENNAI Composite This page intentionally left blank Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. REMEMBERING THE MANHATTAN PROJECT Proceedings of the Atomic Heritage Foundation’s Symposium on the Manhattan Project Copyright © 2004 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN 981-256-040-8 Printed in Singapore. PART I: A REPORT ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ATOMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION’S SYMPOSIUM ON THE MANHATTAN PROJECT Saturday, April 27, 2002 Carnegie Institution of Washington 1530 P Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. U.S.A. PART II: A PLAN FOR PRESERVING THE MANHATTAN PROJECT Preserving America: A Strategy for the Manhattan Project Interim report to Congress prepared by the Atomic Heritage Foundation (01)section.p65 5 8/6/04, 3:47 PM This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS PART I: A REPORT ON THE PROCEEDINGS CHAPTER 1: A HISTORY WORTH PRESERVING 3 Opening Remarks 5 Senator Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Opening Remarks 9 Dr. Everet H. Beckner Preserving the History of the Manhattan Project 13 Cynthia C. Kelly CHAPTER 2: THE MANHATTAN PROJECT — A MILLENNIAL TRANSFORMATION 15 The Atomic Bomb in the Second World War 17 Richard Rhodes The Manhattan Project: An Extraordinary Achievement of the “American Way” 31 Stephane Groueff CHAPTER 3: THE ALLIES AND THE ATOMIC BOMB 39 A Tale of Two Documents 41 Andrew Brown A Footnote on Hiroshima and Atomic Morality: Conant, Niebuhr, and an “Emotional” Clergyman, 1945–46 47 James G. Hershberg A Los Alamos Beginning 53 Kai Bird Martin Sherwin vii (02)Contents.p65 7 8/6/04, 3:53 PM viii Remembering the Manhattan Project CHAPTER 4: THE MILITARY AND SCIENCE IN THE CRUCIBLE OF WAR 61 General Leslie R. Groves and the Scientists 63 Robert S. Norris Science in the Service of the State: The Cautionary Tale of Robert Oppenheimer 69 Gregg Herken Leo Szilard: Baiting Brass Hats 73 William Lanouette CHAPTER 5: SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE 79 SEDs at Los Alamos: A Personal Memoir 81 Benjamin Bederson Some Experiences at the Met. Lab and What Could Be Learned from a Highly Successful and Challenging Project 89 Jerome Karle My First Professional Assignment 93 Isabella Karle Triumph and Tragedy: The Odyssey of J. R. Oppenheimer — A Personal Perspective 97 Maurice M. Shapiro CHAPTER 6: LESSONS OF THE MANHATTAN PROJECT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY 101 Then and Now 103 Maxine Singer The Manhattan Project: Qualitative or Quantitative Change? 107 Stephen Younger Expertise and Independence: The Role of the Science Advisor 111 Richard L. Garwin (02)Contents.p65 8 8/6/04, 3:53 PM Contents ix The Future of Nuclear Deterrence 117 Richard Rhodes CHAPTER 7: CLOSING REFLECTIONS 121 Reflections on the Manhattan Project: Consequences and Repercussions 123 Dr. James Schlesinger APPENDIX A: PROGRAM 131 APPENDIX B: PARTICIPANTS 135 PART II: A PLAN FOR PRESERVING THE MANHATTAN PROJECT PRESERVING AMERICA: A STRATEGY FOR THE MANHATTAN PROJECT 141 Evaluation of the Manhattan Project Properties 143 Basis for Recommendations 147 CROSS-CUTTING RECOMMENDATIONS 148 1. Special Resource Study for National Park Units 148 2. Oral Histories of Manhattan Project Veterans 149 3. Preservation and Storage of Equipment, Artifacts and Documents 149 PRESERVATION STRATEGIES FOR THE MANHATTAN PROJECT: TWO OPTIONS 150 The Essential Manhattan Project (Option A) 151 Oak Ridge: Isotope Separation and Reactor Operations 151 Hanford: Plutonium Production 153 Los Alamos: Designing, Building and Testing the Bomb 155 The Trinity Site 156 (02)Contents.p65 9 8/6/04, 3:53 PM x Remembering the Manhattan Project The Enriched Manhattan Project (Option B) 156 Oak Ridge 157 Hanford 157 Los Alamos 158 Trinity Site 158 University of Chicago 159 University of California, Berkeley 159 Columbia University 159 APPENDIX A: DESCRIPTION OF MANHATTAN PROJECT PROPERTIES 161 1. Oak Ridge, Tennessee 161 K-25 Footprint (Isotope Separation) 161 Roosevelt Cell (Isotope Separation) 162 K-29 as Described in the O.R. White Paper (Isotope Separation) 162 Beta 3 Electromagnetic Separation Racetracks at Y-12 (Isotope Separation) 162 Building 9731, Known as the Y-12 Pilot Plant (Isotope Separation and Research) 163 X-10 Graphite Reactor (Reactor Operations) 163 American Museum of Science and Energy 164 2. Hanford, Washington 164 B Reactor (Fuel Irradiation) 164 T Plant (Chemical Separation) 166 T Plant Exhaust Stack (Chemical Separation) 167 Process Control Laboratory (Chemical Separation) 167 Concentration Building (Chemical Separation) 167 Plutonium Isolation Building (Chemical Separation) 168 Test Pile/Hot Cell Verification Building (Research and Development) 168 Separations Laboratory (Research and Development) 168 Radiochemistry Laboratory (Research and Development) 168 Fresh Metal Storage Building (Fuel Manufacturing) 169 (02)Contents.p65 10 8/6/04, 3:53 PM Contents xi Metallurgical Engineering Laboratory (Fuel Manufacturing) 169 Metal Fuels Fabrication Facility (Fuel Manufacturing) 169 River Pump House (Fuel Irradiation) 169 Lag Storage Building (Fuel Irradiation) 170 Plutonium Vaults (Product Storage) 170 3. Los Alamos, New Mexico 170 “Gun Site” (Weapons Research and Development) 171 “V Site” (Weapons Research and Development) 171 Concrete Bowl (Weapons Research and Development) 172 Louis Slotin Accident Building (Biomedical/Health Physics) 172 Quonset Hut TA-22-1 (Weapons Research and Development) 172 East Guard Tower (Security) 173 Pond Cabin (Administrative and Social History) 173 Trinity Test Site (Weapons Research and Development) 173 FEATURE ARTICLE: THE FRISCH–PEIERLS MEMORANDUM 175 Memorandum on the Properties of a Radioactive Super-bomb 177 Otto R. Frisch Rudolf Peierls INDEX 181 xi (02)Contents.p65 11 8/6/04, 3:53 PM This page intentionally left blank PART I: A REPORT ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ATOMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION’S SYMPOSIUM ON THE MANHATTAN PROJECT (03)Ch01.p65 1 8/6/04, 9:41 AM This page intentionally left blank CHAPTER 1: A HISTORY WORTH PRESERVING (03)Ch01.p65 3 8/6/04, 9:41 AM This page intentionally left blank OPENING REMARKS Senator Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Let me first say I’m honored to be here, particularly at a symposium like this that is attended by many who lived this history as well as many who have devoted their careers to writing it and bringing it alive for the American public and the whole world. This is an exciting subject and Cindy I complement you, as President of the Atomic Heritage Foundation, for organizing this and for the effort that is being made to put together the matching funds for the $700,000 challenge grant that was appropriated through the public-private partnership called Save America’s Treasures, in order to help preserve the history of the Manhattan Project. There’s obviously no more important and more fascinating chapter of American history — American science and engineering history, in particular. For someone like myself, who grew up a hundred miles west of the Trinity site in southwest New Mexico, this has been a subject of fascination for all my life: how this group of extraordinary individuals came together — scientists and engineers primarily, but also others. I know General Groves is going to be spoken about here at length as well, and there are many with a scientific and engineering background who came together to marshal the support of the political leadership of this country to put the country on the path to pursuing the Manhattan Project. It was pursued to a successful conclusion, the bomb was developed, the war was ended, and there are so many exciting aspects to this history that it’s hard to know where to begin. I will leave most of the description of the history to the superb group of historians that we have here to speak today. Let me just relate three of the stories that I’ve always enjoyed very much that have come out of this history, because they are things that I’ve encountered in the reading that I’ve done. The first is right from the book Richard Rhodes did, his extremely well-received book, “The Making of the Atomic Bomb.” It talks about the difficult interface between the military establishment, or the military culture, and the scientific culture, and it involves of course Leo Szilard, and I’ll just read a very small portion of it: 5 (03)Ch01.p65 5 8/6/04, 9:41 AM 6 Remembering the Manhattan Project “Somewhere along the way [General] Groves put Szilard under surveillance. The Brigadier still harbored the incredible notion that Leo Szilard might be a German agent. [...] The surveillance of an innocent but eccentric man makes gumshoe comedy.
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