U.S. Department of Energy PR GRAM UPDATE July-September 2020 Duck and Cover Preserving the Legacy of DOE Historian Joins LM Dayton! 75 Years into the Manhattan Project the Nuclear Age In my last column, I remarked on how much had changed in our uranium for the world’s first nuclear weapon [page 4]. The recent professional and personal lives since the start of the COVID-19 opening of the K-25 History Center is part of a multi-project agreement pandemic. Hard to believe it has been more than six months to preserve and share the building’s historical significance. And be since we invoked our Continuity of Operations plan. sure to read the interview with DOE Historian Eric Boyle, who recently joined LM, to gain more perspective on why history provides an While some of these changes continue to test our resolve and important viewpoint for DOE and other federal agencies [page 8]. patience, I’m proud to say that six months into the pandemic, we’ve adapted to “the new abnormal” and continue to deliver In addition to learning more about LM’s history in this issue, on the LM mission in the office and the field. We’ve been able you’ll also find updates on important work and interesting news. to conduct field inspections and other critical site activities this On the science and technology front, we’re employing lasers and summer, thanks to strong teamwork and ingenuity. We’ve prepared drones to track change at LM sites. Our collaborative partnerships a robust plan for staff to eventually return to the office and field continue to thrive, with the National Nuclear Security Administration safely. We also have a plan to reopen our interpretive and visitors paying a visit to our calibration pads at the Grand Junction, Colorado, centers when appropriate, under guidance from the Centers airport and our Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program for Disease Control and Prevention, and state and local orders. team working closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We remain steadfast in our number-one priority — protecting In procurement, we recently won an award for sustainable the health and safety of our staff, partners, and stakeholders. purchasing of electronics equipment. We even manage to squeeze in some adventure — a small team of Defense-Related Uranium You’ll find that this issue ofProgram Update is dedicated to the theme Mines staff got to ride the spectacular Durango & Silverton of history, an apt subject as it serves to remind us that we have faced, Narrow Gauge Railroad to access a very remote mine in the and overcome, challenges in the past. This summer has been an San Juan National Forest of southwest Colorado. especially reflective time for LM. In July we observed the 75th anniversary of the Trinity test and the dawn of the Atomic Age, followed We can expect more changes before my next column in December, in August by the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki and I can’t predict where we’ll be in our COVID-19 recovery plan. bombings. As the son of a history teacher, the significance of this We might even add another remediated site to our environmental anniversary, and the link to our current mission is not lost on me. long-term stewardship mission. Regardless, we will continue to deliver on our mission of protecting human health and the LM traces its origins to those tumultuous years. In these pages, you’ll environment. Enjoy your last days of summer, and as always, read about the collaborative effort behind the Manhattan Project be safe, take care of each other, and execute the mission. National Historical Park, which commemorates the massive national mobilization effort to produce a deployable atomic weapon during World War II [page 6]. You’ll also learn about the fascinating history of Warm Regards, the K-25 building in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which secretly produced Carmelo Melendez Page 2 | July-September 2020 Welcome to the July-September 2020 issue of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) Program Update. This publication is designed to provide a status of activities within LM. Please direct all comments and inquiries to [email protected]. LM Goals Inside this Update : Director’s Corner ................................................................................................... 2 Goal 1 LM Goals .................................................................................................................. 3 Protect human health and the environment. Preserving the Lasting Legacies of the Manhattan Project ........................................... 4 DOE Historian Joins LM ............................................................................................. 6 Goal 2 DOE History Resources .............................................................................................. 8 Preserve, protect, LM Recognizes National Navajo Code Talkers Day ....................................................... 9 and share records and information. Riding the Rails to Abandoned Uranium Mines .......................................................... 10 DRUM Verification and Validation .............................................................................. 11 Goal 3 Duck and Cover Dayton! 75 Years into the Nuclear Age ............................................. 12 Safeguard former contractor workers’ Preserving the Historical Legacy .............................................................................. 14 retirement benefits. Collaboration Through Calibration: NNSA and LM Team Up for National Security .......... 16 Colonie Story Map Spotlighted at Federal GIS Conference .......................................... 18 Goal 4 Sustainably manage LM Receives EPEAT Purchaser Award for Advancement of Sustainability ..................... 19 and optimize the use Former DOE Intern Presents at Arizona/NASA Space Grant Symposium ...................... 20 of land and assets. Math and Stats Drive Surveys of Abandoned Uranium Mine Risk ................................ 21 LM Employs Lasers and Drones to Track Change ...................................................... 22 Goal 5 Sustain management Collective Expertise, Enduring Partnership Continue to Advance FUSRAP �������������������� 24 excellence. FUSRAP Adapts: Annual Tour Goes Virtual ................................................................. 26 LM Conducts First Groundwater Sampling at Colonie Site .......................................... 28 Goal 6 Report Highlights Conservation in Paddys Run Watershed Near Fernald Preserve ........ 29 Engage the public, Environmental Justice Activities ............................................................................... 30 governments, and interested parties. New Employee Bios ................................................................................................. 32 This issue of Program Update is dedicated to the LM History program. Along with the normal articles detailing LM program activities and achievements, we have included stories highlighting the Office’s historical resources, programs, and initiatives. You can find articles about the History program on pages 4-17. Cover: Polonium purification glove box work at Runnymede Playhouse in Oakwood, Ohio, 1945. July-September 2020 | Page 3 GOAL 6 Preserving the Lasting Legacies of the Manhattan Project Seventy-five years ago, the calamity of World War II came to The creation of the park itself represented the culmination an end. The legacies of that war, and its earthshaking ending, of decades of preservation and advocacy work. By the still reverberate today. mid-1990s, DOE had developed a list of eight Manhattan Project properties that were designated as “Signature Nearly five years ago, a national park unlike any other was created Facilities” because of their central role in the development to commemorate the massive, national mobilization effort to of the atomic bomb. produce a deployable atomic weapon during World War II, and to explore the complicated legacies of that effort, including the In 2001, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation convened use of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, a panel of distinguished historic preservation experts who visited in August 1945. the Signature Facilities, evaluated their historical significance, and developed recommendations and preservation options. In its final report to the Secretary of Energy, the panel unanimously agreed with DOE that the Signature Facilities are of extraordinary historical significance and recommended “the formal establishment of these historic properties as a collective unit administered for preservation, commemoration, and public interpretation in cooperation with the National Park Service.” A tour of the X-10 Graphite Reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Built during the Manhattan Project, the Graphite Reactor was the world’s first continuously operated nuclear reactor, which produced microgram quantities of plutonium used in developing a nuclear weapon. In a 2015 ceremony, the secretaries of the Interior and Energy signed an agreement, defining each agency’s roles in managing the new Manhattan Project National A tour docent shows fourth graders a piece of graphite at the Historical Park (MAPR) at three historic Manhattan Project B Reactor National Historic Landmark at Hanford, Washington. sites at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Los Alamos, New Mexico; B Reactor was the first large-scale nuclear reactor ever built and produced plutonium used in weapons development during and Hanford, Washington. and after