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We'll email you inspiration. Always More to Explore in Oak Ridge. Read More. Visit our site. Born in war and rich in natural beauty, Oak Ridge is the Secret City with a big story to tell. This meant making changes in the racetracks so that they could process the slightly enriched material that was being produced at K He then concentrated on further expansion of the electromagnetic facilities.

Lawrence, seconded by Oppenheimer, believed that four more racetracks should be built to accompany the nine already finished or under construction. Groves agreed with this approach, though he was not sure that the additional racetracks could be built in time to make a difference. As the K stock continued to drop and plutonium prospects remained uncertain, Lawrence lobbied yet again for further expansion of Y, arguing that it provided the only possible avenue to a bomb by His plan was to convert all tanks to multiple beams and to build, yet again, two more racetracks.

By this time even the British had given up on gaseous diffusion and urged acceptance of Lawrence's plan. Time was quickly running out, and an element of desperation crept into decisions made at a meeting on July 4, Groves met with the Oak Ridge contractors to consider proposals Lawrence had prepared after assessing once again the resources and abilities of the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory. There was to be no change in the completed racetracks; there simply was not enough time.

Some improvements were to be made in the racetracks then under construction. In the most important decision made at the meeting, Lawrence was to throw all he had into a completely new type of "calutron" that would use a thirty-beam source.

Technical support would come from both Westinghouse and General Electric, which would cease work on four-beam development. It was a gamble in a high-stakes game, but sticking with the Alpha and Beta racetracks might have been an even greater gamble. The K Plant in Oak Ridge, TN housed the massive gaseous diffusion apparatus used to partially enrich uranium before it was sent to the nearby Y Plant.

Because of the Nazi bombing of England, any production plants had to be located elsewhere. Dunning and Eugene Booth began working in on the gaseous diffusion process.

The goal was to separate the isotopes of U from U by turning uranium metal into uranium hexaflouride gas and pumping it through a barrier material that had millions of microscopic holes. Developing an effective barrier material was the greatest challenge.

General Groves ordered construction to begin and the plant was one-third complete before a solution was found. Eleven miles southwest of Oak Ridge on the Clinch River was the site of the planned K Gaseous Diffusion plant upon which so much hope had rested when it was authorized in late Championed by the British and placed first by the Lewis Committee, gaseous diffusion seemed to be based on sound theory but had not yet produced any samples of enriched uranium At Oak Ridge, on a relatively flat area of about 5, acres, site preparation for the K power plant began in June.

Throughout the summer, contractors contended with primitive roads as they shipped in the materials needed to build what became the world's largest steam electric plant. In September work began on the cascade building, plans for which had changed dramatically since the spring. Now there were to be fifty four-story buildings 2,, square feet in a U-shape measuring a half-mile long by 1, feet wide. Innovative foundation techniques were required to avoid setting thousands of concrete piers to support load-bearing walls.

Since it was eleven miles from the headquarters at Oak Ridge, the K site developed into a satellite town. Housing was supplied, as was a full array of service facilities for the population that eventually reached 15, Dubbed "Happy Valley" by the inhabitants, the town had housing similar to that in Oak Ridge, but, like headquarters, it too experienced chronic shortages. Even with a contractor camp with facilities for 2, workers nearby, half of the construction force had to commute to the site daily.

The mile-long, U-shaped plant covered forty-four acres, was four stories high and up to feet wide. The entire process was hermetically sealed like a thermos bottle, as any moisture could cause a violent reaction with the uranium hexafluoride.

Even minute pinhole leaks and contamination from fingerprints were major concerns. In late summer of it was decided that K would play a lesser role than originally intended. Instead of producing fully enriched uranium , the new gaseous diffusion plant would provide around fifty-percent enrichment for use as feeder material for Y This would be accomplished by eliminating the more troublesome upper part of the cascade. Even this level of enrichment was not assured since a suitable barrier for the diffusion process still did not exist.

The decision to downgrade K was part of the larger decision to double the capacity of Y and fit with Groves' new strategy of utilizing a combination of separation methods to produce enough fissionable material for bombs as soon as possible. There was no doubt in Groves' mind that gaseous diffusion still had to be pursued vigorously. Not only had major resources already been expended on the program, but there was also the possibility that it might yet prove successful.

Y was in trouble as began, and the plutonium pile projects X were just getting underway. A workable barrier design might put K ahead in the race for the bomb. Unfortunately, no one had been able to fabricate barrier material of sufficient quality. The only alternative remaining was to increase production enough to compensate for the low percentage of barrier that met specifications. As Lawrence prepared to throw everything he had into a thirty-beam source for Y, Groves ordered a crash barrier program, hoping to prevent K from standing idle as the race for the bomb continued.

The K plant was more reliable and efficient than anyone predicted. After the war, the K was expanded with the K, K, K and K plants built as additional stages of the process. The plants produced the majority of the U for the Cold War arsenal. The K plant was the first large-scale fully automated factory in history.

Because of the complexity and size of the plant, 9, employees working in three shifts were needed to monitor its operations. Until , K produced fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors around the world.

In addition, K developed a commercially competitive gas centrifuge technology. The theory behind investing in S was that the enrichment process might work best if the three plants were used in a series. In practice, this proved to be correct. The uranium product was slightly enriched at S one to two percent U and this was fed into the K plant.

The gaseous diffusion process raised the enrichment to about 20 percent. This was fed into the Y plant for the final enrichment cycle. Through this serial approach, the first atomic bomb received its enriched uranium. About Us We apply expertise in advanced materials, supercomputing, neutrons, and nuclear science to national priorities in energy, security, and scientific discovery. Learn more. Working Here. Leveraging the talents of world-class researchers.

Living Here. Getting Here. Trip Ideas. More to Explore in the Museums Oak Ridge is home to four outstanding museums, sure to delight both children and adults. Pressed for Time? Check out some of our curated Iteneraries below! See Them All.