Manhattan Project National Historical Park is a United States
National Historical Park
National Historic Site (NHS) is a designation for an officially recognized area of national historic significance in the United States. An NHS usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject. The National Historic ...
commemorating 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 ...
that is run jointly by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
and
Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...
. The park consists of three units: one in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak ...
, one in
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is an census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as the development and creation place of the atomic bomb—the primary objective of the Manhattan Project by Los Alamos National Labora ...
and one in
Hanford, Washington
Hanford was a small agricultural community in Benton County, Washington, United States. It and White Bluffs, Washington, White Bluffs were depopulated in 1943 in order to make room for the nuclear production facility known as the Hanford Site. The ...
. It was established on November 10, 2015 when
Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to:
* Secretary of the Interior (Mexico)
* Interior Secretary of Pakistan
* Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines)
* United States Secretary of the Interior
See also
*Interior ministry ...
Sally Jewell
Sarah Margaret "Sally" Roffey Jewell (born February 21, 1956) is a British-American businessperson who served as the 51st United States secretary of the interior in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017.
Jewell was born in London and moved ...
and
Secretary of Energy
The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when Pr ...
Ernest Moniz
Ernest Jeffrey Moniz, GCIH (; born December 22, 1944) is an American nuclear physicist and former government official. From May 2013 to January 2017, he served as the 13th United States secretary of Energy in the Obama Administration. Prior to t ...
signed the
memorandum of agreement that defined the roles that the two agencies had when managing the park.
The Department of Energy had owned and managed most of the properties located within the three different sites. For over ten years, the DoE worked with the National Park Service and federal, state and local governments and agencies with the intention of turning places of importance into a National Historical Park. After several years of surveying the three sites and five other possible alternatives, the two agencies officially recommended a historical park be established in Hanford, Los Alamos and Oak Ridge.
The Department of Energy would continue to manage and own the sites while the National Park Service would provide interpretive services, visitor centers and park rangers. After two unsuccessful attempts at passing a bill in Congress authorizing the park in 2012 and 2013, the House and Senate ultimately passed the bill in December 2014, with
President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
signing the National Defense Authorization Act shortly thereafter which authorized the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
Sites
![Exterior of B Reactor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Exterior_of_B_Reactor.JPG)
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park protects many structures associated with the Manhattan Project, but only some are open for touring.
Hanford, Washington
*
B Reactor National Historic Landmark – bus tours are available by advance reservation
* the previous Hanford High School in the former
Town of Hanford and Hanford Construction Camp Historic District
* Bruggemann's Agricultural Warehouse Complex
*
White Bluffs Bank and Hanford Irrigation District Pump House
Los Alamos, New Mexico
![LANL Slotin Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/LANL_Slotin_Building.jpg)
The Los Alamos Visitor Center for the Manhattan Project NHP is located at 475 20th Street in downtown Los Alamos. This location is open Friday through Monday from 10 am to 3 pm. It is in the Los Alamos Community Building on the front left as you face the building from the street (next to the Los Alamos Teen Center). Visitors can learn about the Manhattan Project and related sites in the vicinity.
There are three areas of the park located on
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
property. These locations are only open to the public by special bus tours organized by the Department of Energy:
* Gun Site Facilities: three bunkered buildings (TA-8-1, TA-8-2, and TA-8-3), and a portable guard shack (TA-8-172).
* V-Site Facilities: TA-16-516 and TA-16-517 V-Site Assembly Building
* Pajarito Site: TA-18-1
Slotin Building, TA-8-2 Battleship Control Building, and the TA-18-29
Pond
A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...
Cabin.
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
The
American Museum of Science and Energy
The American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) is a science museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, designed to teach children and adults about energy, especially nuclear power, and to document the role Oak Ridge played in the Manhattan Project. The mus ...
provides bus tours of several buildings in the
Clinton Engineer Works
The Clinton Engineer Works (CEW) was the production installation of the Manhattan Project that during World War II produced the enriched uranium used in the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, as well as the first examples of reactor-produced plutoni ...
including the:
*
X-10 Graphite Reactor
*
Buildings 9731 and 9204-3 at the Y-12 complex
* East Tennessee Technology Park, located on the
site of the K-25 Building
References
External links
*Official National Park Service website
Manhattan Project National Historical Park*Official Department of Energy website
Manhattan Project National Historical Park
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Manhattan Project
National Historical Parks of the United States
National Park Service areas in New Mexico
National Park Service areas in Tennessee
National Park Service areas in Washington (state)
Hanford Site
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Military history of New Mexico
Military history of Tennessee
Protected areas of Anderson County, Tennessee
Protected areas of Benton County, Washington
Protected areas of Los Alamos County, New Mexico
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places
World War II on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places in Anderson County, Tennessee
National Register of Historic Places in Benton County, Washington
National Register of Historic Places in Los Alamos County, New Mexico
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)
Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico
Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee
Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee
Protected areas established in 2015
2015 establishments in New Mexico
2015 establishments in Tennessee
2015 establishments in Washington (state)
Science and technology in New Mexico
Science and technology in Tennessee
Science and technology in Washington (state)