U.S. Department of Energy PR GRAM UPDATE July-September 2020 K-25 History Center Preserving the Legacy of DOE Historian Joins LM Transfers to LM the Manhattan Project 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. K-25 History Center Transfers to LM ........................................................................... 4 Preserving the Lasting Legacies of the Manhattan Project ........................................... 6 Goal 2 DOE Historian Joins LM ............................................................................................. 8 Preserve, protect, DOE History Resources ............................................................................................ 10 and share records and information. LM Recognizes National Navajo Code Talkers Day ..................................................... 11 Riding the Rails to Abandoned Uranium Mines .......................................................... 12 Goal 3 DRUM Verification and Validation .............................................................................. 13 Safeguard former contractor workers’ Duck and Cover Dayton! 75 Years into the Nuclear Age ............................................. 14 retirement benefits. Preserving the Historical Legacy .............................................................................. 16 Collaboration Through Calibration: NNSA and LM Team Up for National Security .......... 18 Goal 4 Sustainably manage Colonie Story Map Spotlighted at Federal GIS Conference .......................................... 20 and optimize the use LM Receives EPEAT Purchaser Award for Advancement of Sustainability ..................... 21 of land and assets. Former DOE Intern Presents at Arizona/NASA Space Grant Symposium ...................... 22 Math and Stats Drive Surveys of Abandoned Uranium Mine Risk ................................ 23 Goal 5 Sustain management LM Employs Lasers and Drones to Track Change ...................................................... 24 excellence. Collective Expertise, Enduring Partnership Continue to Advance FUSRAP �������������������� 26 FUSRAP Adapts: Annual Tour Goes Virtual ................................................................. 28 Goal 6 LM Conducts First Groundwater Sampling at Colonie Site .......................................... 30 Engage the public, Report Highlights Conservation in Paddys Run Watershed Near Fernald Preserve ........ 31 governments, and interested parties. Environmental Justice Activities ............................................................................... 32 New Employee Bios ................................................................................................. 34 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: At the time of its construction in the 1940s, the K-25 Building was the largest building in the word, but its mission was kept secret from the public. July-September 2020 | Page 3 GOAL 6 K-25 History Center Transfers to LM Visitors can learn about the “secret city” at K-25, with topics ranging from nuclear fission to housing. This fall, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy The monumental effort to operationalize the K-25 Plant was a Management (LM) will be taking on responsibility for the K-25 central part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret effort to build History Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The center offers visitors the world’s first atomic bomb. Workers in the K-25 Plant used 7,500 square feet of exhibits with more than 250 original artifacts the gaseous diffusion method to separate uranium-235 (which on display. Visitors can discover the inner workings of the K-25 can be used as fuel for an atomic bomb) from uranium-238 Plant; meet people who worked there; and learn about one of (which cannot be used as fuel). Based on the principle that the most significant industrial, technological, and scientific molecules of a lighter isotope would pass through a porous achievements in American history. barrier more readily than molecules of a heavier one, gaseous diffusion produced, through myriads of repetitions, a gas Crews broke ground for the K-25 Plant in June 1943, as World increasingly rich in uranium-235, as the heavier uranium-238 War II raged. It would become one of the largest construction was separated out in a system of cascades. Although producing projects ever attempted. The small town of Oak Ridge, originally only minute amounts of final product, measured in grams, designed for 13,000 people, swelled to more than 50,000 by gaseous diffusion required a massive facility to house the summer 1944, due to construction needs for K-25 and other hundreds of cascades, and consumed enormous amounts Manhattan Project efforts. When the project was completed in of electric power. Ultimately, K-25 provided uranium-235 that 1945, at a cost of $500 million, the U-shaped K-25 Gaseous fueled one of the two atomic bombs deployed at the end of Diffusion Plant was the largest structure in the world, with a World War II. 44-acre footprint and measuring half