The American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) is a

science museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...

in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, designed to teach children and adults about energy, especially

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

, and to document the role Oak Ridge played in the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

. The museum opened as the American Museum of Atomic Energy in 1949 in an old

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

cafeteria on Jefferson Circle. It moved to its second facility in 1975 and was renamed AMSE in 1978. As of June 2019, the museum is located in the shopping mall across the street from the old location.

Exhibits and tours

The museum has both permanent and rotating exhibits, including robots, science puzzles, a NOAA

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

, a timeline of atomic discoveries, a large

Van de Graaff generator A Van de Graaff generator is an electrostatic generator which uses a moving belt to accumulate electric charge on a hollow metal globe on the top of an insulated column, creating very high electric potentials. It produces very high voltage ...

, a display devoted to

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s and the Y-12 Plant, and a solar energy demonstration project. Its flagship exhibit, titled "Secret City - The Oak Ridge Story", was completely redesigned and rebuilt in 2007. A World War II-vintage flat top house, one of many inhabited by Manhattan Project workers in Oak Ridge, opened as a walk-through attraction in 2009, but was moved to the grounds of the

Children's Museum of Oak Ridge The Children's Museum of Oak Ridge (abbreviated as CMOR) is a non-profit children's museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States, that provides museum exhibits and educational programs. History The museum was first conceived as a Girl Scout ...

in 2018 and is now used by the

Manhattan Project National Historical Park Manhattan Project National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park commemorating the Manhattan Project that is run jointly by the National Park Service and Department of Energy. The park consists of three units: one in Oak Ri ...

as part of a display of the history of Oak Ridge. Several photos by Ed Westcott are on display. The museum also provides bus tours of the local sites of the

including the X-10 Graphite Reactor National Historic Landmark, the

Y-12 National Security Complex The Y-12 National Security Complex is a United States Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration facility located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It was built as part of the Manhattan Proje ...

and the East Tennessee Technology Park, located on the site of the K-25 Building. The K-25 History Center, a 7,500-square foot museum operated by AMSE opened at the K-25 site in 2020. The museum is open seven days a week. The museum was free to the public for many years when its operation was fully funded by the

U.S. federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fed ...

, but now charges for admission. The museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate.

History

The museum was established in 1949 as the "American Museum of Atomic Energy". In 1975, the museum constructed a new building at 300 South Tulane Avenue. The museum was located there until 2018, when the museum moved to a new yet smaller building on Main Street. The one-story building has .

References

External links

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K-25 History Center
{{Authority control Museums established in 1949 Oak Ridge, Tennessee Museums in Anderson County, Tennessee Science museums in Tennessee Smithsonian Institution affiliates Energy museums in the United States 1949 establishments in Tennessee

Exhibits and tours

History

See also

References

External links