Swords to plowshares in Oak Ridge
| Pictured is equipment at the Y-12 National Security Complex that helped separate uranium during World War II and other elements following the war that greatly assisted important scientific research. |
D. Ray Smith
The Beta 3 Calutrons at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the last remaining
Manhattan Project- era electromagnetic separation equipment, have received a
substantial amount of attention lately. A couple thousand people were allowed to
view them during a series of public tours in June that were associated with the
Secret City Festival. This was the first time they have been open to the public.
It all started at an annual labor management prayer breakfast in December 2004
when Oak Ridge Mayor David Bradshaw asked Dennis Ruddy, BWXT Y-12’s president
and general manager, if it would be possible to allow the public to see the Beta
3 calutrons during the June 2005 Secret City Festival. It has been the spark
that has created a ground swell of historic preservation activities surrounding
the Beta 3 calutrons at Y-12.
The main feature of the calutrons at Y-12 during the Manhattan Project was their
use to separate uranium-235 from the more abundant uranium-238 found in natural
uranium. The percentage of uranium-235 in uranium ore is only 0.7%. Separating
that scarce material required a specialized process and was highly labor
intensive. Around 22,000 people working around the clock for one full year on
1,152 calutrons separated 50 kilograms of the extremely rare and valuable
material. Enough for the first atomic bomb, “Little Boy,” that was dropped on
Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
That along with Fat Man – a plutonium bomb, dropped on Nagasaki on August 9,
1945 - led to the end of World War II. Some say this action potentially saved
more than a million lives that might have been lost during a land invasion of
Japan.
This uranium story is better known that the rest of the story of the Beta 3
Calutrons at Y-12. When the war ended, K-25 and its Gaseous Diffusion Process
had just become fully operational. It was a far more efficient process for
separating (enriching) uranium. The Y-12 calutrons (with their 13,700 tons of
silver) were dismantled and removed from eight of the nine major buildings at
Y-12. Only the calutrons in Building 9731, the Pilot Facility and Building
9204-3 (Beta 3) were not removed. The initial reason was to continue experiments
to improve the proficiency of the calutron process. This proved to be impossible
to do with any degree of success. But the people at Y-12 were not through.
Almost immediately the scientists at Y-12 realized that the calutrons were
capable of being used to separate not just uranium, but most any element in the
periodic table! This was a tremendous leap in knowledge and realized as
potentially very significant. This scientific realization provided what was
arguably to become an even more important contribution of the Beta 3 calutrons
than the uranium-235 separated for the first atomic bomb. However, this
particular aspect of the service to mankind made by the people and equipment
first built for wartime use has not been recognized and has not been given its
due credit.
In the May 2005 issue of Physics Today, William E. Parkins’ article “The Uranium
Bomb, the Calutron, and the Space Charge Problem,” concludes with the following
summary: “The most important legacy of the project (the Y-12 calutrons) has been
the contribution to science, technology, and medicine made possible through the
use of separated isotopes of nearly all the elements of the periodic table.
Hundreds of kilograms have been prepared for research and diagnostics in
physics, chemistry, earth sciences, biology, and medicine. This service has been
provided at cost for almost 60 years through the use of calutrons in the pilot
units and Beta tracks at Y-12, all operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Nationally and internationally, thousands of customers and millions of medical
patients have benefited.”
Parkins’ reference for the above statement is an article by L. O. Love in
Science magazine.
Parkins goes on to say, “The development and use of the calutron to produce
enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb that was exploded in warfare, and
then to produce the full spectrum of separated isotopes for uses in peacetime,
is the greatest example of beating swords into plowshares in the history of
human kind. For its contribution in both wartime and peacetime, the physics
profession can be proud.”
Oak Ridge can be proud of the accomplishment of its citizens who contributed
over the years to this most significant achievement that Parkins calls the
“greatest example of beating swords into plowshares in the history of human
kind.”
People like Joe Tracy and Scott Aaron who have managed this program and the
numerous people who have done the exacting and precise work over the years
should be given accolades and recognition for their roles in the significant
contribution to medical research and treatment as well as other technological
advances enhanced by stable isotope separation.
Other Oak Ridge, Tennessee Links:
American Museum of Science and Energy
Oak Ridge Convention and Visitor's Center
Historical Markers in Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge History
Secret City History
John Hendrix and Y-12
Hymn to Life
Back of Oak Ridge and John Hendrix (Prophet of Oak Ridge) book
Secret City The Movie
A View of the [Bear Creek] Valley
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